Bill Hynes, who is the former CEO of United Fiber and Data and business associate of members from the band Live, has brought a new lawsuit against three of the members, attempting to claim money from promissory notes he said he issued each of the members at the beginning of the company.
Live band members have received lawsuit
This is the latest in a storm of lawsuits that have surrounded the businessmen since the company began to implode over accusations and dissolving relationships between company leaders.
It was started at 210 York Street as a big idea for a telecommunications company to install a 340-mile fiber-optic line from New York City to Ashburn, Virginia, with the words “Think Loud” bold across the front of the building, has devolved into a series of lawsuits that have been piling up for years.
Hynes has claimed that Live band members Chad Taylor, Patrick Dahlheimer and Chad Gracey owe him a total of $1.4 million in loans he said they opened with him in 2011. The lawsuit claims the loans were connected to a business venture involving ADS Builders East, LLC, a now-dormant organization Hynes incorporated in his home in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, at 174 Newport Avenue.
Hynes further said in the lawsuit that he had put the loans into forbearance but has since taken them out of forbearance and the three have not paid him back. Hynes requested the parties begin payment by Aug. 11 of this year.
Gracey, according to the lawsuit, has agreed the claim is valid and “expressed appreciation for the generous forbearance when (Hynes) informed the promisors that it was ending.”
“The promissory note is a valid obligation that Chad Taylor, Patrick Dahlheimer and myself have been putting off for quite some time,” Gracey wrote in a statement. “Mr. Hynes has been gracious through our relationship by allowing a forbearance period and I intend to settle this amicably with him. I read the complaint and unfortunately for my former band mate who tends to deny the truth no matter what, the note is real and the supporting information in the claim seems irrefutable.”
Hynes specifically targets Taylor in the lawsuit, saying he had exaggerated his net worth and financial status when entering the promissory note agreement. Hynes attached documents he claimed he found “abandoned” in 210 York Street in October of 2021 that show Taylor’s self-reported financial status was “wildly inaccurate.”
Among the documents attached were an unpaid American Express bill for $43,559.52, an overdue account notice from PNC Bank for $101,734.51 and a series of business pursuits that were large losses, including the music group Gracious Few.
He also attached a letter between Taylor and NCO Financial Systems, a debt collection group, dated January of 2011, where Taylor asks for leniency in debt collection and describes his situation as a “period of hardship.” He also included a notice of potential foreclosure Taylor went through in February 2011.
Hynes also accuses Taylor and Dahlheimer of conspiring to misrepresent their finances to him by making fraudulent financial statements that inflate both of their net worths.
Taylor denies the allegations, saying there was never any money exchanged over the promissory notes. The lawsuit is pursuing four counts: breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent inducement and concealment and civil conspiracy.
In addition to the promissory note bills, Hynes is seeking to claim an “amount in excess” of $150,000 from the defendants, with an additional count of $50,000 against Taylor for fraud. Hynes said Taylor has twisted reality around the situation and that his tax statements should speak for themselves in the case.
