Community Leader & CEO of Precision Plus, Mike Reader, Tied to Investor Group that Bilked Creditors of Thousands

Mike Reader of Elkhorn WI was a member of a now defunct investor group, Avant Group Inc. The 5-member group organized in 2016 and sought to assist a local entrepreneur, Tony Valenti of Lake Geneva, to build a coffee and bike shop.
Although Avant Cycle & Café is still open, leadership struggles resulted in 4 of 5 investors to vote to dissolve the company in December of 2018. Six weeks prior to dissolution, fellow board member/investor, Ann Esarco, registered a new corporation with the state of Wisconsin.
This set the stage for what Reader and 3 other investors would do next: dissolve the old corporation and vote to give 100% of company assets to the new corporation while simultaneously side-lining the original investor, Valenti. However, when dissolving a business, known creditors must be notified in writing and be provided details regarding the claiming of assets Wisconsin Statute §§180.1406

https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/180/xiv/1406

Singing Rooster, a small nonprofit headquartered in Madison WI, is one of several creditors owed money by this group. Molly Nicaise, CEO of Singing Rooster, has this to say: “We began supplying Avant café with roasted Haitian coffee in 2016 and did so for over a year and a half. They were slow to pay, but always paid. When the checks stopped, I checked with the account, Esarco. She told me they had gone bankrupt.”

Nicaise later discovered the café/bike shop had not gone bankrupt and was stunned to learn Esarco had created a new corporate ID and that 3 other investors, including Reader, went along with the task of giving her all corporate assets.
“Unbelievable. Small mom and pop vendors like Singing Rooster supplied this still open/never closed coffee shop with goods only to be stiffed because they changed a corporate identity? Who does that?”

When she saw she was getting no traction with Escarco, she turned to Reader. “There are a lot of photos of Mike with the ‘big check donations’ online; he supports local school children, foundations. I felt confident he would do the right thing when he understood their actions were illegal. Boy, was I wrong.”

Nicaise was forced to sue and won a full judgement of $3600 in November 2020.

https://wcca.wicourts.gov/caseDetail.html?caseNo=2019SC003276&countyNo=13&index=0

However, the group has still not paid. Nicaise wants Reader to take responsibility and liquidate company assets that were given to Esarco to pay off thousands in debt owed to small businesses. “It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s the law. I can work wonders with $3600 in Haiti.”

2400 Waunona Way
Madison, WI 53713

Singing Rooster is a social enterprise nonprofit with a big heart. We partner commercially with small producers in Haiti to build better businesses and simultaneously re-introduce the world to fabulous Haitian products.

#yourcupmatters

This release was published on openPR.