Month: June 2017

JAH Enterprises (d/b/a Henderson Auctions) CEO and Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards Auction License Board Appointee Jeff Henderson.

It’s been over four months since our post entailing the scathing ruling issued by U. S. Judge Shelly Dick regarding Federal civil fraud litigation entailing Gov. Edwards’ Louisiana Auction Licensing Board (LALB) appointee Jeff Henderson.

Henderson is the son of Henderson Auctions’ founder, convicted felon Marvin Henderson.  Only days after our post, the Baton Rouge Business Report published an extensive article entailing Marvin Henderson’s problematic past.  The article also outlined highpoints of Federal civil fraud litigation entailing Henderson Auctions and BLH Equipment, an LLC controlled by a Mississippi businessman and former Henderson business associate James Blake Everett.  The Business Report even revealed the following details about allegedly secret payments which Marvin Henderson instructed Everett to make to him or persons on his behalf:

“In July, Everett’s attorney filed another exhibit, this one called ‘Advances to Marvin for his Girlfriends‘ (bold emphasis is ours). The handwritten ledger shows dates and amounts for 10 additional alleged payments—in cash and cashier’s checks—to Marvin Henderson or to women on Henderson’s behalf (bold emphasis ours). That exhibit alleges that all told, BLH Equipment paid $141,519.68 to Marvin Henderson between July 2, 2013, and Feb. 7, 2014.”

In our current feature, we outline some interesting developments revealed in Federal Court filings on May 31, 2017 entailing Jeff Henderson’s uncle (and Marvin’s brother), Dale Henderson, (and other Henderson associates, past and present) being expected to be called as witnesses by BLH/Everett and  to testify against Marvin, Jeff, and Janet Henderson Cagley (Marvin’s daughter) in the trial presently scheduled for January 8, 2018:

Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns covers discovery material filed into Federal Court on May 31, 2017 entailing witnesses expected to be called by BLH Equipment and James Blake Everett as well as what those witnesses are expected to testify regarding.

We will soon be continuing this feature with some absolutely fascinating deposition testimony wherein Marvin Henderson was the deponent.  Those will be VERY interesting segments, we guarantee!!

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Craig Mills & His Family

In our latest Sound Off Louisiana feature, we continue our investigative series entailing alleged adoption scams in Louisiana.  Viewers will recall from segment one that alleged scam victim Craig Mills filed civil litigation over his allegations entailing his attempted adoption of a son who is the biological brother of his adopted daughter, Morgan.  Mills alleges impropriates and/or conflicts on the part of Louisiana licensed social worker and adoption attorney Lisa Pecquet Harell.  The case was assigned to 19th JDC Judge Todd Hernandez.  The most recent hearing entailing the matter transpired on April 10, 2017.  Sound Off Louisiana attended the proceeding.

In essence, Harell’s attorney, Chris Whittington, argued that biological parents have a constitutional right to change their minds entailing who will adopt their baby.  Mills’ attorney, Crystal Bounds, acknowledged that fact but emphasized that her clients “have the right not to be scammed.”  She emphasized that Harell knew full well the biological parents were “double dipping” entailing multiple prospective adoptive parents but permitted the alleged scam to continue to be perpetrated.  Whittington also argued that any action by the Mills family should be prescribed based on his assertion that a home study, which Harell conducted for the Mills family, is only valid for one year unless a request is made to renew the study for another year, which he contended Mills did not do.  Judge Hernandez took the matter under advisement and, on May 24, 2017, he issued a ruling denying both of Harell’s exceptions (exceptions of no right of action and prescription).  Thus, though Harell may appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeal, the case remains ongoing.  Harell already appealed Hernandez having denied a previous peremptory exception of no cause of action, and the First Circuit declined to even hear the matter.  Bounds argued that the most recent hearing before Judge Hernandez was a mere “copy and paste” of that previous exception hearing.

In this segment, Mills elaborates entailing what he contends is indifference and/or ineffectiveness on the part of the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) entailing preventing adoption scams in Louisiana.

Mills discusses the indifference and/or ineffectiveness of DCFS at preventing Louisiana adoption scams.
CLICK HERE for an adoption ad in Common Cents which Mills references as being inappropriate, and
CLICK HERE for an ad by the adoption agency Mills is suing with the language he argues is inappropriate highlighted.

One alarming aspect of this whole case centers around Harell’s early-on efforts to seal this entire case from public scrutiny.  Clearly, the public would not be well-served in being denied this opportunity to delve into potential serious problems in the Louisiana adoption market.  Those problems were pretty well documented in this LSU Law Center publication regarding the subject.

If an adverse judgment against Harell ultimately results from Mills’ civil lawsuit against her, it won’t be the first such adverse ruling.  In 2005, Harell was cited by the Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners for failing to actually conduct an in-person home study, falsely representing that she had in fact done so, and failing to maintain fee charges and billing documentation for the statutorily-required six-year period.

We look forward to delivering Part IV of this fascinating series, during which Mills voices his concerns entailing Louisiana State Police (LSP) and its investigations (or lack thereof) involving Louisiana adoption scams very soon.

If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future Sound Off posts, simply scroll to the very bottom of this page (mobile devices) or to the end of the right-hand column (desktops) and supply your email address within the subscribe box.  You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow” bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above.