All-Star Craig El Arrested For Stealing From Gymtyme Ga Families

[ACEDAD]

There seems to be quite a bit of unsubstantiated claims supporting him as well. Unless y'all actually worked at the Georgia gym and know exactly what happened to the money.


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[cheer25mom]

It really doesn' t matter what happened to the money. It didn't get used for the purpose it was paid in for, that's theft at a minimum, and fraud at worst. Doesn't matter if it went into the business or his personal pocket. It's still theft. The argument that they got to go to Cheersport anyway so all is good is frankly ridiculous. Someone else's generosity got them there after their money was stolen and their gym owner ran. I just don't understand how anyone can give him a free pass on that because he is "kind and caring". It isn't kind and caring to the kids he stole from to just disappear. Put yourself in those kids shoes and think about how they felt when their "kind, caring" gym owner disappeared without a word and left them high and dry.


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[quitthedrama]

OK - I get what you are saying. But my argument is that if the funds are used for the business and not his personal use, it is difficult to claim it is "theft" or criminal. I would be willing to bet that most businesses charge fees for different things and the money all goes into one general fund. For example, say you hire a contractor to build you a patio. He gives you a list of items that you are expected to pay for, including materials, labor, and let's just say, a built in grill for an additional $200. Now, the contractor takes your check and deposits it into his bank account. Do you expect that he takes those very dollars and goes straight to the store to buy the materials? No. He puts it in his bank account with the rest of his money. Your job is scheduled for June, but by April, he is having financial difficulties. Turns out that several deals fell through, people's checks bounced, whatever, and he ends up without enough cash to purchase your grill, which you've already paid for. Patio is complete, but no grill. He goes out of business. You would be mad, of course, and you would expect him to pay you the difference for the money you paid for the grill. Now, the question is did he "steal" your money? It's a fine line. He didn't intend to rip you off. So what do you do? Call the cops? Or call your lawyer? Should the contractor be arrested and thrown in jail? Or should he be sued in a civil court? You may feel both, and perhaps you're right. But in my eyes, it is a civil matter.

Now...if the contractor was a gypsy who showed up at your house, you paid him $500 to sealcoat your driveway and never did the job and then skipped town, I'd say that is theft. No intention of providing you a service or product, just an intent to take your money and scram. I'd say arrest them and charge them with theft.

Everything @quietmom said. And to respond to the above statement, he could be a wonderful guy, but he broke the law and should be held accountable. Whatever the "intent" was, he still stole money - a LOT of it. If he collected $150 per person for 100 kids he stole $15,000 just for one competition alone. Stealing one's fees that were earmarked for competition to "keep the lights on" is theft, because he is still using those funds for his own personal use, since if the lights are on, he is still employed. The contractor in your above example is in the petty theft category, but would be served a warrant as well if he had failed to complete projects after being paid for multiple customers. It happened to the owner of the bridal shop I was unfortunate enough to use for my wedding - there were multiple filings which made the theft total in the tens of thousands. As far as anyone defending a DUI, I can't formulate a polite response to that.

 

[MzLyn23]

Can I just say, if it bites me in the a$$ or not, eating popcorn is a form of expression to ease the tension of the conversation because everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
I have not personally commented on this gym or gym owner or co-owner or whatever he was... and eating popcorn is just to say "well this has gotten extremely interesting and I'm just gonna sit back and see how this plays out" so in terms of it being a ha ha joke, to some it may be, but in my head at least it's more like "ohhh hold up let's see where this leads" especially because I am on the outside looking in and I'm intrigued just as I have been intrigued by other threads on Fb.... (oh yes I eat a lot of popcorn and even more when reading twitter)

And furthermore I personally think the sky is blue, and sometimes a beautiful shade of lilac and orange depending on the position of the sun and clouds, popcorn is definitely yellow, strong wine is red, and humor is just as much needed as a cup of coffee in the morning....

In all honesty I take many threads on any social media site like "kitchen table talk"... we listen (or read) we can opinion or share views without judgement and on the day that becomes impossible to do then what's the point of it all....

Food for thought...



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[MzLyn23]

OK - I get what you are saying. But my argument is that if the funds are used for the business and not his personal use, it is difficult to claim it is "theft" or criminal. I would be willing to bet that most businesses charge fees for different things and the money all goes into one general fund. For example, say you hire a contractor to build you a patio. He gives you a list of items that you are expected to pay for, including materials, labor, and let's just say, a built in grill for an additional $200. Now, the contractor takes your check and deposits it into his bank account. Do you expect that he takes those very dollars and goes straight to the store to buy the materials? No. He puts it in his bank account with the rest of his money. Your job is scheduled for June, but by April, he is having financial difficulties. Turns out that several deals fell through, people's checks bounced, whatever, and he ends up without enough cash to purchase your grill, which you've already paid for. Patio is complete, but no grill. He goes out of business. You would be mad, of course, and you would expect him to pay you the difference for the money you paid for the grill. Now, the question is did he "steal" your money? It's a fine line. He didn't intend to rip you off. So what do you do? Call the cops? Or call your lawyer? Should the contractor be arrested and thrown in jail? Or should he be sued in a civil court? You may feel both, and perhaps you're right. But in my eyes, it is a civil matter.

Now...if the contractor was a gypsy who showed up at your house, you paid him $500 to sealcoat your driveway and never did the job and then skipped town, I'd say that is theft. No intention of providing you a service or product, just an intent to take your money and scram. I'd say arrest them and charge them with theft.

Can I add from personal experience with contractors that don't complete jobs.... civil matters don't always resolve itself and it does all depend on the amount of $$$. My parents years ago paid for a contractor to remodel a kitchen. It was gonna be $10k or more job. Paid $5k down, work began and then he just started coming less and less... 3 months later stated he was struggling with other contracts etc and needed a little more to finish the job.. I believe they paid another $1500... we never saw him again until we Went to civil court where I feel sometimes the court system doesn't like to be bothered with less than a certain amount of money lost... so forced to do mediation. He agreed to pay back in a payment plan the money minus supplies that he did use (Sheetrock and compound which he left in the apartment that we couldn't rent out for a year).... thinking problem was solved we agreed and the guy disappeared. (Heard rumors that he became a heavy drug user). He never paid a dime and last we heard 7 years ago was he left the state... court never bothered to continue efforts to collect funds or put a breach of mediation contract to garner any wages or income he may have had. With court costs etc we were out a little over $7k.

With this said, civil matters aren't always the solution and if I could have or at least convinced my parents to do so I probably would have opted to press charges of theft cause he very blatantly did it. He took money especially the second time and never came back to complete or do anything.

So depending on this case and the alleged amount of money and as others have previously stated the evidence of such allegations, criminal charges might be the one way to go. Our mistake with out personal issue is with had no way to confirm identity like ss# to garner wages and the only thing we had was a bank account that he immediately closed that wasn't under his Ss# etc it was just complicated.

Sorry that my 2 cents regarding civil matters with regards to money.



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[#nauticalgal]

I think the important thing to note from your continual comments on this particular thread is the fact that you (ICECheerMom) have never been a member of Ultimate Athletics and are in fact a member of a gym that is a direct competitor of Ultimate Athletics. For you to continually post rumors as fact, is reprehensible. Every negative comment you have made is based solely on rumors within the cheer community and the fact that you had an extended family member who cheered there a DECADE ago does not deem you all knowing of all things UA and it's apparent that your sole purpose is to further smear the gym even more. Your negativity and lack of actual FACTS actually paints your own gym in a negative light, being that your screen name here makes you appear to be a representative of your gym. Let's be honest, I could sit here and type up a 10 paragraph post full of rumors about YOUR gym and all of the negative rumors that are spread about your gym. But I do have a bit more class than that and I also have no desire to smear your gym in the public media because it serves zero purpose other than to hurt the kids that are members of your gym.

One fact you do not seem to know about is that Craig is NOT the majority owner of Ultimate Athletics and hasn't been since the end of last season. He does not have financial control over UA. You didn't know that, now did you? He doesn't "run" it either. Sure, the cheer World knows him as the figure head of UA and that does paint us in a negative light currently, in light of his current legal difficulties and our gym will weather that as needed but please stop spewing false information as if you are all knowing of the happenings of a gym you have never even been a member of. You say you feel for the families, if that were true, you wouldn't continue to perpetuate the rumors within this thread and on other social media outlets. I find it disheartening that you would choose to passive/aggressively feign compassion for the families at UA all while perpetuating the rumors even more with your condescending opinion for which you literally have zero facts or experience with, which in turn gets people talking and scared and does directly affect the children at UA. I do believe I can speak for all current UA families when I say, we do not need nor want your fake pity. We still have a fabulous coaching staff that has actually brought a renewed energy to the gym already this season

As far as Craig's current legal issues, that is for the court system to resolve. If he is guilty, that will be decided. Just because he is charged, does not make him instantly guilty. I prefer to wait to see what evidence is presented and how the court system decides to handle the case, not try it on social media based on a bunch of BS opinions or people. Just as people in GA make claims of theft, people in IL can make claims of compassion and giving. I'll bet there were people in GA who realized compassion too. None of us are truly privy to what happened there, who was managing the books and what families were paying their monthly fees and who wasn't. I certainly am not privy to any of that information neither are you. Sure, my family adores Craig and he has done so much for my children. He is a man who I can say is truly there for the kids, and you just cannot say that about a lot of people in this industry. For most, it is obvious that it is about the almighty dollar. We choose to support him, not kick him while he is down. That is what family does!

 

[#nauticalgal]

cheer25mom,

 

[cheer_strong]

I'm curious, did said gym lose any athletes because of the situation? I think that if they still have most of their athletes (because all gyms lose a few athletes every new season) then that pretty much will tell the story.

 

[KPep]

Just looking at the names of the people disliking everything and I notice some look alike... hope there is no double accounts.

Don't mind me. I lost a lot of wisdom lately.

 

[Just here for the show]

I would just like to give a few shout-outs. One, to our Founding Fathers for giving us the First Ammendment. Two, to Al Gore (haha) for inventing the Internet. And three, Mark Zuckerberg for making social media what it is today.
Without these people, where would we be?! Everyone can become an expert on every topic, know everyone's business, and voice their opinion on everything! That's amazing. #merica #firstworlddrama #justherefortheshow

 

[ACEDAD]

I would just like to give a few shout-outs. One, to our Founding Fathers for giving us the First Ammendment. Two, to Al Gore (haha) for inventing the Internet. And three, Mark Zuckerberg for making social media what it is today.
Without these people, where would we be?! Everyone can become an expert on every topic, know everyone's business, and voice their opinion on everything! That's amazing. #merica #firstworlddrama #justherefortheshow

Glad you could join so you could comment as well. Welcome aboard!!


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[FridayNightLights]

I would just like to give a few shout-outs. One, to our Founding Fathers for giving us the First Ammendment. Two, to Al Gore (haha) for inventing the Internet. And three, Mark Zuckerberg for making social media what it is today.
Without these people, where would we be?! Everyone can become an expert on every topic, know everyone's business, and voice their opinion on everything! That's amazing. #merica #firstworlddrama #justherefortheshow

I'm curious, did said gym lose any athletes because of the situation? I think that if they still have most of their athletes (because all gyms lose a few athletes every new season) then that pretty much will tell the story.

I'll have a large popcorn, extra butter & a Diet Coke. Thanks!

 

[Momof5]

To answer a few of the questions asked on here.

Yes, the gym lost athletes because of the theft. People left before Cheersport, some left after, and a good chunk did not return this season.

The kids got to compete at Cheersport only because we raised the money through go fund me. Getting to compete was because of the parents and kids hard work raising the money.

If it was a mistake or an accident Mr. El or whichever of his many aliases he is using today would have returned the money that I paid in full for my girls at the beginning of the season when he decided to walk away from our kids. When you ask for a tuition reimbursement for the 2 months of tuition , and he ignores your email and chooses not to respond that shows his true character.

We as parents just want to make sure that he isn't able to do this to another gym. Btw he didn't just not pay for Cheersport he didn't pay for any of our competitions

 

[Momof5]

Our new owners are doing a great job this season and we are excited for the future.

 

[quietmom]

To answer a few of the questions asked on here.

Yes, the gym lost athletes because of the theft. People left before Cheersport, some left after, and a good chunk did not return this season.

The kids got to compete at Cheersport only because we raised the money through go fund me. Getting to compete was because of the parents and kids hard work raising the money.

If it was a mistake or an accident Mr. El or whichever of his many aliases he is using today would have returned the money that I paid in full for my girls at the beginning of the season when he decided to walk away from our kids. When you ask for a tuition reimbursement for the 2 months of tuition , and he ignores your email and chooses not to respond that shows his true character.

We as parents just want to make sure that he isn't able to do this to another gym. Btw he didn't just not pay for Cheersport he didn't pay for any of our competitions

I am so sorry this happened to your child and wish you nothing but the best in future seasons.