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Last week we provided proof that the ABC issued a permit to Lisa Wright that she was not entitled to obtain and that Wright made false statements on her application to the ABC.
The facts that we presented were:
(1) On May 11, 2011 Edward Wright, filed documents with the Arkansas Secretary of State indicating that he and his wife, Lisa, formed a business named North 10th Street Liquor LLC d/b/a Celebrations Fine Wine & Spirits. Wright their Little Rock residence address , 41 Vigne Blvd, Little Rock.
(2) On or about May 26, 2011 Lisa Wright filed applications for permits with the ABC stating that she and her husband lived at 1105 Lakeshore Drive, Hot Springs, but used a Little Rock post office box as a mailing address. The Hot Springs location was a vacation home and did not even have a mail receptacle.
(3) The ABC rules and regulations require that a permit holder live no further than 35 miles from the location for which the permit is issued. The Wright's actual residence was more than 60 miles from Arkadelphia while their vaction home was under 35 miles. A fraudulent application is reason enough for the ABC to deny or reject an application.
(4) The ABC failed to apply their own rules and regulations in a fair and constant manner in connection with Lisa Wright's application and subsequent issuance of permits.
(5) The ABC failed to question or investigate blatant discrepancies in documents submitted by Ms. Wright in connection with her application.
(6) Lisa Wright continued to use the Hot Springs home as her residence even after she and her husband had sold the property.
(7) On June 23, 2016, Edward Wright sent a letter to the ABC claiming that he sold his half interest in the Arkadelphia store to a relative, Ronald D. Wright. No documents have been filed with the Secretary of State to indicate a change.
(8) The Wright's have a personal connection to tainted ABC Enforcement Director Boyce Hamlet through their daughter and son-in-law.
We asked both Mr. and Mrs. Wright to comment on this matter and they refused. As did the ABC. We know what they have to hide so that is not surprising.
Lisa Wright might have been able to illegally obtain a permit from the ABC, but she will never be able to obtain a concealed carry permit because of a domestic battery arrest at her and Ed's residence. She paid a $140.00 fine and the case was "dismissed". Innocent people don't pay fines.
Lisa Wright might have been able to illegally obtain a permit from the ABC, but she will never be able to obtain a concealed carry permit because of a domestic battery arrest at her and Ed's residence. She paid a $140.00 fine and the case was "dismissed". Innocent people don't pay fines.
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Now that you are up to speed, let's continue...
On January 30, 2015, Edward Wright filed documents with the Arkansas Secretary of State indicating that he formed a second alcoholic beverage business, Cheers Wine & Spirits of Arkansas LLC, using his and his wife's Little Rock residence and post office box that was also used for the Arkadelphia liquor store (as well as other business enterprises). Remember that the Wright's have indicated to the ABC that they live in Hot Springs in documents connected to their Arkadelphia liquor store and ABC rules and regulations do not permit you to have a financial interest in more that one location.
Then on March 24, 2015 Edward Wright filed more documents with the Arkansas Secretary of State indicating that he formed a third alcoholic beverage business, Crush Wine & Spirits, Inc., using his and his wife's residence in Little Rock as the address. Remember
that the Wright's have indicated to the ABC that they live in Hot
Springs in documents connected to their Arkadelphia liquor store and ABC rules and regulations do not permit you to have a financial interest in more that one location.
There is no filing with the Arkansas Secretary of State by Kristen (Wright) Saffa using the name Crush. That's because her father is the owner and Kristen is the straw man.
The only filing found with the Arkansas Secretary of State is for one with her and her husband, Carlton Saffa. And it was way back in 2011. What type of business is this? More about upcoming on sister blog - Bad Government in Arkansas.
Ed was not picked in the ABC lottery for a Saline County permit, but daughter Kristen was.
Ed's file with the ABC is interesting in that he states that for the past 5 years he has only resided at 41 Vigne Blvd. Remember that he was listed at the Hot Springs address in his wife's documents back in 2011. If that was true, then he resided somewhere besides the Little Rock home in the last five years. And to keep up the false appearance that his wife (now allegedly without him) remains in residence at the Hot Springs address on his application. But she still gets her mail at the post office box Wright uses for his business dealings. What tricksters!
Note that Wright indicates that he has a financial interest in the Arkadelphia liquor store. What will he do if he gets a permit? According to the ABC rules he can't obtain a permit with a financial interest in more than one licensed outlet.
Ed's name wasn't drawn by the ABC, but daughter Kristen's was.
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| KRISTEN (WRIGHT) SAFFA |
Here is her application:
Kristen states that she is an accountant. We did a search in a national database of licensed certified public accounts and did not find her name.
The business that she lists is also associated with the one her father listed on his application. He claims to be the CEO of ATA International Inc. at 6210 Baseline Road and her application lists she works at Martial Arts Services at P.O Box 193010, Little Rock. One and the same.
Kristen also claims that she owns 100% of Crush Wins & Spirits. How can that be when her dad owns 100% of it as well. Another thing the ABC missed or ignored.
Kristen and her hubby, Carlton Saffa and close friends of tainted ABC Director Boyce Hamlet. As we pointed in Part I, Boyce and Carlton are old pals. Both have worked on various Republican campaigns in the past, often together. Both worked for Asa Hutchinson, Boyce while stealing time from his job working at the 20th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney's office and Carlton taking a break from scamming customers of his insurance company (more on that later).
Carlton and Kristen are wild and crazy guys. They are Republicans, but had their wedding reception at the Clinton Library.
As we told you in Part I, Carlton currently works for the governor. He is a Senior Executive Assistant. Sounds like a secretarial position but with a good salary.
He currently deals with matters concerning the ABC, and his pal Boyce consistently sends him emails seeking praises for a job someone else has done.
Before he went to work as a employee for Asa, Carlton had an insurance company.
Carlton was a bad, bad boy and got into a big amount of trouble and he surrendered his insurance license before he lost it.
The Insurance Department was going to revoke his license, as indicated from a transcript of a hearing about it:
Suzanne Tipton (deputy commissioner): "We are leaning towards what is possibly revocation instead of a straight surrender of your license, and that's something that you can agree to and do a consent order."
Saffa: "There are ripple effects that can occur on the difference between revocation and reprimand," Saffa said. "I understand I'm being recorded when I say that."
Saffa had eariler referred to his work with the department and told Taryn Lewis, an investigator with the Insurance Department, and Tipton, "I handle everything you touch, as you all know, you and I are in a lot of meetings together." Apparently in an effort to threaten them.
According to Washington National Insurance, they found that Saffa "told the customer a lie to obtain a higher premium policy". No wonder he and Hamlet are friends.
READ WHAT INSURANCE FRAUD NEWS REPORTED
When the Arkansas Insurance Department completed their investigation of Carlton and issued a letter of reprimand, it caused a stink in the governor's office and a ton of unwanted bad press. Carlton had been hired to work on insurance related matters for Asa. Well, Asa couldn't have him do that after the way the mess blew up.
So the governor's office found something else for Carlton to do. That's right, he was assigned to deal with the ABC.
But that move caused another problem. One with his family connections in the liquor industry. So he had to opt out of any matters involving his family and the ABC.
That memo covers his ass doesn't it. Too bad he couldn't have done a memo like that for the insurance matter and kept the job he was originally hired to do. Notice how he says "Wright family business" in the last sentence and does not mention his wife. That's because the liquor stores are the Wrights. His wife is the straw owner and he let it slip.
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| CARLTON SAFFA |
We have a lot more to tell you about Carlton and will have that information shortly on another of our blogs:
Kristen's application file also included a lease between her and her father.
When Kristen made an application for the site, there was a self-service ice machine business on the site.
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| SITE WHEN NOTICE WAS ATTACHED TO UTILITY POLE IN 2015 |
Photographs taken on August 5th show little work done at the site and new looking signs, that were not there in 2015 when the ABC visited the site, that indicate the property was recently sold and that financing was provided by First Security Bank.
You will recall that her father was and is still listed on documents on file at the Arkansas Secretary of State as being associated with Crush Wine & Spirits. That's a conflict with ABC rules and regulations as they prohibit an individual from having a financial interest in more than one licensed establishment.
So Ed sends a letter to the ABC claiming he sold Crush Wine & Spirits to his daughter and resigned as president. Look back up the page. Kristen claimed on her application that she owned 100% of Crush Wine & Spirits. If that was factual, why did her daddy have to give it to her? Fraudulent applications are a reason to deny a permit. Yet another problem for the ABC.
Another suspicious occurrence with this matter is that Kristen filed her application in May 2015 and the ABC did not approve it until June 2016. Most applications are made and approved in less than six months.
There was nothing in the ABC file to indicate any reason she should not be ready to get approval and move forward.
Perhaps it took a long time for Kristen's daddy to get financing and purchase the property and that was what herld up her going before the ABC Board for final approval.
The ABC Board gave approval and did not question the discrepancies in the file.
The ABC has a duty to thoroughly examine the information submitted in each application and to enforce their rules in a fair and impartial fashion.
The ABC also has a responsibility to the citizens of Arkansas to operate and conduct business in a open and transparent manner.
The ABC failed in this matter and the citizens of Arkansas are due an explanation.
