Thursday, October 10, 2013

The Hoofer Syndicate

I came across this page and am having trouble figuring out why the Wisconsin Union and Hoofers don't qualify as an organized crime syndicate. Wisconsin Union and Hoofer managers and employees regularly engage in activities such as:

1. Fraud. HSC advertises that when you join the sailing club (Hoofers' largest club by far), you pay a $65 "deposit" that you can later get refunded. But almost no one ever gets it back, and each winter, unelected Hoofer officers secretly discuss how to avoid having to refund all that money (so they can keep it for themselves). And that's a lotta cash ($65 x 1000 members.)
2. Extortion. Union and Hoofer managers have been known to threaten people to get money out of them or to try to get them to act against their will. That's coercion or extortion.
3. Obstruction of justice. According to information we've received, Wis. Union and Hoofer employees have repeatedly made false and spurious reports to the police, the intent being harassment or monetary gain for themselves.
4. Employing criminals. Many BOC and instructors engage regularly in libel, slander, stalking, and other crimes, though they're rarely prosecuted because UW police are their friends. However, some ex-commodores have been formally charged with felonies and others have committed crimes. Ex-bigboy Jim Rogers himself engaged in criminal activities, leading eventually to his ouster from Hoofers. There also appear to be convicted felons serving as club officers.
5. In addition, it seems likely that Wis. Union and/or Hoofer employees have engaged in embezzlement and other activities that are also outlawed under RICO (that's in addition to the state crimes noted above, i.e. libel, obstruction, theft, stalking, etc.).

Importantly, many of those Hoofer "leaders" obtain their positions of authority through cronyism, intimidation, and other inappropriate means.

Also interesting: In addition to committing crimes, Wis. Union employees and managers have engaged in SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) lawsuits in an attempt to intimidate and silence individuals who have sued them. That is, Wis. Union managers and Hoofer Sailing Club commodores have brought harassing, illegal lawsuits to intimidate victims/whistle blowers to try to shut them up. In some cases they've done this in retaliation for themselves having been brought before the courts.

In short, HSC operates very much like an organized crime syndicate.

Perhaps someone can investigate all club employees and BOC to see who else has been charged with and/or convicted of crimes.