PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – A popular Ponte Vedra Beach Club reopened Tuesday after recovering from two foreclosure lawsuits and a fraudulent loan scheme.
The beach club announced three days before the reopening that it will be under the management of Radu Drula, a hospitality executive with two decades of country club experience.
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To commemorate its reopening, and the loyalty of its members, the beach club will host a “Welcome Back” party on February 23, featuring live entertainment from season one “The Voice” winner, Javier Colon.
The Serenata Beach Club closed abruptly in January, which sparked confusion among members, who were told that to retain their membership, they would need to continue paying membership fees via check despite the club being closed.
The club’s abrupt closure also affected faculty, who were not compensated for their prior three weeks of work and were uncertain when they would receive their paychecks and W-2s.
In response to this, former club member Greg Hagerman started a GoFundMe for the unpaid employees, which raised $15,495 and was distributed to employees.
In September 2023, the club’s former owner, Molly Butler, emailed a statement to club members explaining that the club’s co-owner and herself were involved in two foreclosure lawsuits and that they had been victims of fraud.
According to the New York County District Attorney’s Office, the two club owners were victims of a fraudulent loan scheme by scammers Kelly Fontaine, 56, and Anthony Burges, 53, who preyed on struggling small businesses that were experiencing financial hardship after the COVID-19 pandemic.