Lawsuit alleged “theft, embezzlement and corruption” by AAHOA management.
By The American Bazaar Staff
NEW YORK: A federal court judge in Atlanta, Georgia, has dismissed a lawsuit brought by 9 individuals against the management of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, on the grounds of the complaint not able to meet the legal requirements of the actions they were requesting.
The lawsuit, filed by Jay S. Patel, Anil Patel, Bhavesh Desai, Brijesh Patel, Chandravadan Patel, Divyesh Desai, Hiren Patel, Manish Kumar Desai, and Shailesh Patel – all members of AAHOA themselves – had accused the AAHOA chairman Pratik Patel and other current office-bearers of the organization of “theft, embezzlement and corruption.”
The lawsuit filed in the United States District Court Atlanta Division, on August 12, alleged that AAHOA directors and officers including Patel, principal of San Antonio, Texas-based REM Hospitality, have engaged in misuses of the group’s funds, manipulated bid processes for contracts, destroyed meeting minutes and misdirected charitable donations, reported the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The members who filed the lawsuit want a judge to order an immediate halt to the violations.
“Absent intervention by this court, AAHOA will be crippled, its governance and ethics left in shambles, and its former honest and highly qualified staff forever lost to the organization,” said the lawsuit.
However, in a ruling issued Wednesday, Judge Harold Murphy rejected the plaintiff’s motions citing long-standing law which showed the plaintiffs had not met the legal requirements of the actions they were requesting.
Murphy considered testimony by all witnesses accusing management of wrongdoing and stated that the case brought against AAHOA stood little chance of success at trial, said a release issued by AAHOA to The American Bazaar.
“The decision confirms what we have stated all along, the claims made by these individuals against AAHOA are frivolous and have no basis in fact,” said Pratik Patel. “Hopefully this will put an end to this action and we can get on with our mission of representing the 12,500 men and women who make up AAHOA.”
Patel also announced he will take additional steps to ensure that every complaint from an AAHOA member is properly adjudicated through the AAHOA governance process. He stated that while most of the allegations contained in the complaint had already been considered by various levels of the AAHOA governance process, he will ask the Board of Directors to reconsider every allegation in the lawsuit at the next Board of Directors meeting on September 2-3.
AAHOA is the largest hotel owners association in the world with more than 12,500 members who own over 40 percent of all U.S. hotels.
2 Comments
“had accused the AAHOA chairman Pratik Patel and other current office-bearers of the organization of “theft, embezzlement and corruption.” A CLEVER PATEL STRATEGY TO CONFUSE EVERYONE ! Also, “The lawsuit, filed by Jay S. Patel, Anil Patel, Bhavesh Desai, Brijesh Patel, Chandravadan Patel, Divyesh Desai, Hiren Patel, Manish Kumar Desai, and Shailesh Patel – all members of AAHOA themselves – had accused the AAHOA chairman Pratik Patel and other current office-bearers of the organization of “theft, embezzlement and corruption.” Can you make out the real meaning of this line ? These are the country cousins of Narandra Modi, who own >70 % of all Motels, some them as beehives of prostitution rings on highways and some unknown towns, amassing their moolah to help the BJP to overthrow Congress and to build a Temple in Ajodhya, UP. Who knows the IRS may be snooping down on them,
Are you sure that the court “dismissed” this lawsuit? That does not sound correct. The court ruled on a procedural issue that is one small aspect of the case. Your article cites a press release from AAHOA, which is a defendant, as its source. A more accurate source would be the court’s actual ruling. Have you read it?