The H.M. King High School Brahma Band Booster Club and its attorney, Alfred Issasi, are tired of waiting for restitution they feel is owed to them by a group of families who allegedly falsified documents which allowed them to raise thousands of dollars under the organization’s name.

Issasi said he intended to deliver a letter by Wednesday, June 16, demanding that the families pay $8,000 to the band booster club.

“Not knowing the exact amount these families raised, right now we are staying under $10,000 and asking for $8,000,” Issasi said.

“We analyzed what the real booster club normally raises during barbecue or hamburger plate sales, which is about $1,500 per sale after expenses,” he said.

The four families involved are accused of raising money through barbecue plate sales held at a local business in March and April while claiming they were with the band booster club even though none of the parents are associated members.

“We’re only figuring for two months (March and April) and from what we understand they had a sale every weekend at that same particular store during that span,” Issasi said.

“This is just an estimation but we rounded down and kept it under $10,000 so we could sue them in a Justice of the Peace (small claims) court, where the limit is $10,000, if we need to,” the attorney said.

Improperly applying under the band booster club name, the families involved acquired food credentials from the City of Kingsville on Jan. 29.

Legitimate booster club members, a few months later, found out that the illicit barbecue plate sales were going on and immediately notified the city, which yanked the permit from the families.

Funds raised through the plate sales were not given to the booster club but instead used to pick up the tab for a nice graduation party, which took place at the Knights of Columbus Hall (14th Street) on May 1 - in honor of four recently graduated female band members who are daughters of the families that allegedly participated in the scam, according to Issasi.

Issasi said he has persistently tried making contact with all of the families involved in the matter, but most of them repeatedly ignore his calls.

Thus, the band booster executive board has given the attorney the green light to send the demand letter.

Upon receiving the letter, the four families have ten days to respond or the booster club will file a lawsuit.

The attorney said his client has been more than patient, especially these past few weeks.

“We allowed the recent senior graduation to go on without us sending the letter,” Issasi said.

“A lot of these families on both sides had children who were graduating and we didn’t want to ruin one of the biggest milestones of their life. We didn’t want to have these kids see each other at the ceremony and there be tension, so we laid off until now,” he said.

At least one of the mothers involved, however, has expressed some remorse in the whole matter.

“One of the mothers who I did manage to talk to, and was the last one to join in on this, has a friend who told her not to do it, as other families had been asked to join, because they knew they were falsely using the Brahma Band Booster Club name,” Issasi said.

“She told me ,‘I wish the owners of the store had told me what they were doing, then we may not have taken part’. I think the mother of this particular little girl was duped into participating because she didn’t know this group had acquired the food permit under false pretenses.”

It’s the principle of the matter when you get right down to it, Issasi continued.

“You go to a store and see a sign ‘Fundraiser for high school graduation party’ and would the people participate; but if you post a sign that says ‘Brahma Band Booster Club barbecue sale’ well then people are more likely to contribute,” Issasi said.

“A lot of people do cancer benefits; a young lady I know had a sale because her house burnt down after it was hit by lightning, but would people participate if you said ‘we want to have a big shindig for our daughters’? I think these families knew the answer to that, which is why they falsely used the Brahma Band Booster Club name,” Issasi said.

The booster club, though, is still willing to settle things amicably.

“We are willing to sit down with them; the booster club executive committee really doesn’t want to take legal action but instead wants to work this out civilly,” Issasi said.

“If they (families) come back with a counter offer, we would take it as a consideration, but if they tell us to bug off or do not respond, then we will take the next appropriate action,” he said.

“Show us your books; show us how much you made through these sales while utilizing the Brahma Band Booster Club name,” he said.

“If they only made $500, then they should just turn it over to the booster club and we could settle this, but none of them have been forthcoming.”

The booster club is adamant in its position that the alleged scam took money out of their children’s pockets.

“This is to protect the integrity of things; we can’t just let bygones be bygones, Issasi said.

“I mean, where do you draw the line,” he asked.

“The club is seeking legal remedies because the money these families raised would have helped defer some of the costs of a recent trip to Florida taken by the actual booster club and the band kids,” Issasi said.

“I think it cost $700 to $800 per kid to go on this trip to Florida when it might have cost less had they raised more money,” he said.

In the end, the numbers justify the cause, Issasi went on.

“This is a case of several families of numerous band kids, and (these) families and their girls,” Issasi said.

“Of course you are going to get more money if you say the fundraiser is for the whole club instead of if you let people know it is just for four girls. So, I think it is more that the club is upset that these four families utilized the booster club’s name improperly and I am not really blaming the four young ladies,” he said.

“I don’t know how culpable they were, but more their parents,” he said.

Plain and simple, Issasi concluded, know to whom your money is going to.

“People be warned: when you go and buy that barbecue plate, and they say it is for the Little League, the Boy Scouts, the softball team, the girl scouts or the band…how do you know,” Issasi asked.

“You don’t; you take the word of the people selling the plate for a worthy cause when it truly wasn’t in this case — that’s the big deal,” Issasi said.

“If you want to have a fundraiser for your own personal party, then say so but don’t use a true organization’s name for your own private benefit.”