The following is a rebuttal to the comments made by Vernon Welch, Welch Aviation in report #523338 on Ripoff Report.com on or about November 13, 2009. In this rebuttal I will address the following – (a) Vernon Welch, and Welch Aviation, (b) the action that I took on behalf of my business /corporate interest, (c) my legal education and background, and finally the legitimacy (or lack thereof) of (d) Ripoff Report.com.
(a) Affirmative Statements from Marc Baron as it relates to Vernon Welch /Welch Aviation: The following statements affirmatively define the relationship (or lack thereof) between me (Marc Baron) and Vernon Welch and Welch Aviation.
Affirmative Statements:
Statement 1. : The first time that I (Marc C. Baron) ever met Vernon Welch or had any knowledge of Welch Aviation was in June 2009.
Statement 2. : I (Marc C. Baron) have never in any capacity been a client of Vernon Welch or Welch Aviation.
Statement 3.: I (Marc C. Baron) have never contracted any work from Vernon Welch or Welch Aviation.
Statement 4.: I (Marc C. Baron) have never requested nor have I received any service from Vernon Welch or Welch Aviation.
Statement 5.: I (Marc C. Baron) have never had any reason to tender any payment to nor am I indebted in any manner for any sum to Vernon Welch or Welch Aviation.
Statement 6.: I (Marc C. Baron) have never given a credit card or a check to Vernon Welch or Welch Aviation.
Statement 7.: I (Marc C. Baron) have never offered to perform any service of any kind for Vernon Welch or Welch Aviation.
Statement 8.: I (Marc C. Baron) have never received any money or has there been any exchange of any value of any type from Vernon Welch or Welch Aviation.
I, Marc C. Baron, challenge Vernon Welch or any Officer or Employee of Welch Aviation to contest any of the eight statements that have been made. I challenge Vernon Welch or any Officer or Employee of Welch Aviation to meet me in a court of law in Orange County, Florida and challenge me under oath, in front of a jury of peers, in regard to any of the eight statements that have been affirmatively stated.
If Vernon Welch or Welch Aviation can contest or counter ANY of the eight statements that were made then he (Vernon Welch) should do so with proof and verifiable evidence and it should be presented in a court of law. Vernon Welch should seek established and enforceable legal recourse for his allegations, and furthermore if Vernon Welch has any evidence and he is of the position that RipOff Report.com is the most effective venue to assert his claims then he – Vernon Welch – should back up his claims with evidence and immediately post whatever evidence that he has on Ripoff Report.com, in regard to me (Marc C. Baron) so that he can definitively show that his allegations are true. Lacking that (verifiable evidence or proof that counters any of the eight statements that I made in the opening paragraph of this rebuttal) the statements that were made by Vernon Welch and on behalf of Welch Aviation, as found in his posting on Ripoff Report.com, are FALSE ALLEGATIONS.
Vernon Welch and Welch Aviation are mistaken if they think that posting false allegations on a website (Ripoff Report.com) will somehow help him/them establish a case against me and/or my business associates.
(b) Vernon Welch/Welch Aviation Dishonest Party: In the following paragraphs of this section it will be outlined how Vernon Welch and Officers and Employees of Welch Aviation were in fact the dishonest party(s) in this transaction. The outline will include a full discussion of:
(1) the corporate entity (Express One International) that was the vehicle for Vernon Welch and his cohorts (Stan Helton) to extort money from Clarence Richard Byers (Managing Member, Aviation Asset Management, LLC.,),
(2) the method and/or manner in which Vernon Welch, and Officers and Employees of Welch Aviation extorted money from Clarence Richard Byers, and
(3) how I (Marc C. Baron) came to un-cover the fraud that was conducted by Vernon Welch, and Officers and Employees of Welch Aviation and his cohorts (Stan Helton) .
My business associate, Clarence Richard Byers, had a reasonable expectation of fair dealing and honesty from the Senior Management of Express One International and Welch Aviation, instead the Senior Management of Express One International (Vernon Welch being one of them) working in conjunction with Welch Aviation, extorted money from Clarence Richard Byers via misuse of a credit card. I (Marc C. Baron) was able to expose the fraud when I conducted a forensic audit (for my own purposes – clearly within my right to do so) during the August 2009 period.
(1) Corporate Entity – Express One International: The Federal Aviation Administration issued a FAR 135 Air Operating Certificate (“AOC”) in the name of Express One International (it should be noted that this AOC - as of the writing of this rebuttal - is defunct and has been for an undetermined amount of time). The individuals that were listed as Management on the Express One International AOC were: (1) Stan Helton, Director of Ops, (2) Keith Owens, Chief Pilot, and (3) Vernon Welch, Director of Maintenance. These are mandatory positions of authority and responsibility found in any FAR 135 AOC. Clarence Richard Byers was a passive shareholder of Express One International.
It is a fact that I (Marc C. Baron) was never an owner, manager, shareholder, employee, consultant, or any other conceivable business relationship with Express One International. Furthermore I had no relationship to ANY transaction with Express One International and/or Welch Aviation. I (Marc C. Baron) had nothing to do with Express One International, furthermore I did not know ANY of the Management/Officers/Shareholders of Express One International during the period that this fraud was initiated and executed.
There were a number of aircraft that were registered as being on the Express One International certificate. The aircraft were mainly of one make and model - Piper Navajo Chieftains PA-31-350. These aircraft are owned by Aviation Asset Management, LLC., a special purpose company that is registered in the state of Georgia. The Managing Member of Aviation Asset Management is Clarence Richard Byers.
I (Marc C. Baron) am not a Member of Aviation Asset Management, at the time of writing this statement, I was not a Member of Aviation Asset Management at the time the incidents and/or actions in question took place.
Vernon Welch, in his capacity as Director of Maintenance – Express One International, had a fiduciary responsibility to maintain the aircraft (Piper Navajo Chieftains PA-31-350) that were on the Express One International AOC in a manner that was compliant with FAR 135 standards. Vernon Welch had a ethical duty - as a compensated (compensation from Clarence Richard Byers, Managing Member, Aviation Asset Management, LLC) Manager of Express One International, to provide honest, professional, timely maintenance services. Vernon Welch violated all of his fiduciary and ethical duties and responsibilities.
Vernon Welch conducted his dishonest behavior by assuming a management position (Director of Maintenance) on the FAA 135 Certificate (it should be noted that even when this certificate was defunct Vernon Welch continued to charge Clarence Richard Byers management fees in the thousands of dollars, on a monthly basis, for his alleged position of Director of Maintenance of Express One Intl. a certificate that was defunct)while have a conflict of interest as the President and Owner of Welch Aviation. Furthermore it is clear that Vernon Welch knew that he lacked the integrity to act in an honest manner and on multiple occasions worked in conjunction with Stan Helton (Director of Operations) to defraud Clarence Richard Byers.
(2) Method in which Vernon Welch, Employees of Welch Aviation and Welch Aviation extorted money from Clarence Richard Byers: For more than 24 months Vernon Welch, Welch Aviation and Stan Helton fraudulently extorted money from my business associate ,Clarence Richard Byers, by the means of misusing a personal Visa credit card that was issued to Clarence Richard Byers by a financial institution headquartered in Virginia.
Of the three FAR 135 required management positions (Dir. Of Ops, Chief Pilot, Dir. Of Maintenance) – two of the Managers (Stan Helton, Director of Ops, and Vernon Welch, Director of Maintenance) betrayed their fiduciary duty of honesty and fair dealing as Managers of Express One International – by (1) stealing money (via credit card fraud) from Clarence Richard Byers, (2) submitting false invoices for work that was never done (Vernon Welch and Welch Aviation), and (3) charging fees for management duties (Vernon Welch, Director of Maintenance , Express One International), while acting in a conflicted, self-serving and dishonest manner.
Furthermore the wife of Vernon Welch admitted to me (Marc C. Baron) that Clarence Richard Byers’ credit card had been charged (with the knowledge of Vernon Welch and his Wife and Stan Helton) on Welch Aviation Point of Sale (POS) terminal for an amount of money (in excess of $8,000.00), with no work performed, and a Welch Aviation check was written and issued to Stan Helton (personally) for the amount that was charged on the Welch Aviation POS. The Welch Aviation check was then deposited into Stan Helton’s personal account. This conspiratorial fraud was conducted by Vernon Welch, the wife of Vernon Welch and Stan Helton.
(3) How I (Marc C. Baron) came to un-cover the fraud that was conducted by Vernon Welch, employees of Welch Aviation and Welch Aviation: It was very simple to uncover the fraud – Vernon Welch, the employees of Welch Aviation are not very intelligent people – really just grease monkeys that work on aircraft instead of cars or trucks or forklifts – but grease monkeys nonetheless.
I was asked by my business associate (Clarence Richard Byers) to review a number of invoices (all of which were in the name of Stan Helton and Express One International ) that were for alleged work performed on Piper Navajo Chieftain aircraft. I was also given a number (over 6 months of billing statements) of credit card statements from a financial institution showing the charges on the personal credit card account of Clarence Richard Byers.
The statements presented showed a pattern of charges for “alleged” work performed or services tendered – however at the time of audit and/or at the point of operation of the aircraft, it was obvious that work had not been performed and/or service had not been exchanged. Aircraft log books are legal documents, reflecting the history (both operational and mechanical) of the aircraft. The aircraft logbook is an effective tool to use as the basis and to structure a forensic audit review. This was the action that was taken, and FAA certified mechanics assisted me (Marc C. Baron) in the verification of mechanical work that was “alleged” to have been performed by Vernon Welch and Welch Aviation, which at the end of the day was determined to have not been performed.
Action that Marc C Baron took on behalf of and in coordination with Clarence Richard Byers: In the manner that ANY normal and reasonable person would have done and in the manner that is a right ANY holder of credit card has as regulated by the Federal Trade Commission and in federal statutes in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) 15 U.S.C. §1681 et. seq and the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) 15 U.S.C. §1601 et. seq. I assisted Clarence Richard Byers in filing a protest against some (Welch and Helton had been extorting and misusing the credit card of Clarence Richard Byers for over 24 months – my actions were relegated to 4 months of charges) of the charges that were placed on his personal credit card by Vernon Welch, Stan Helton, Welch Aviation and/or any company that Vernon Welch, Stan Helton or Welch Aviation sub-contracted and gave access to make charges on the personal credit card of Clarence Richard Byers.
The argument that I discussed with my associate and asserted to the credit card issuer was simple (1) the charges were fraudulent, (2) the charges were not authorized, and (3) there was no credit card voucher with the signature of Clarence Richard Byers that authorized any transaction and/or he agreed to being held responsible by the terms of the card issuer for any of the said transactions. All of the actions that were taken were legal, within the establish guidelines of disputing a credit card transaction, fully compliant with the Federal Trade Commission and U.S.C. 15 §1601 (http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcb/fcb.pdf), and with the full approval of my business associate (Clarence Richard Byers).
Statements (or rather the lack of statement or specific allegation) from Vernon Welch are those of an ignorant man. The dispute process established by the credit card industry in the United States is impartial and he (Vernon Welch) had specific and well defined recourse that he could have taken should he have had determined that the actions that were taken were illegal, dishonest, or inappropriate. It should be obvious to an intelligent person that if Vernon Welch has resulted to posting an inaccurate report in Ripoff Report.com, then I (Marc C. Baron) was successful in the dispute that was lodged against him and his company.
The actions I took WERE NOT on my behalf, but rather on behalf of a former client and business partner of Vernon Welch and Stan Helton. Furthermore the third party credit issuer established merit in the assertions of the disputing party it was determined that Vernon Welch and Welch Aviation did not comply with the established commercial terms and conditions of a merchant and thus was not entitled to receive undeserved consideration. I (Marc C. Baron) DID NOT GAIN ONE CENT FROM MY ACTIONS, NEITHER DID I RECEIVE ANY COMPENSATION FOR THE WORK I DID AND THERE WAS NO FINANCIAL OR ECONOMIC BENEFIT TO ME. I simply helped a business associate protect his legal rights as found in U.S.C. 15 §1601 (http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcb/fcb.pdf), and regulated by the Federal Trade Commission.
(c) Law Background of Marc C. Baron: I – Marc C. Baron – have never said to Vernon Welch, any employee of Welch Aviation, Stan Helton, any employee of Express One International that I was a Florida licensed attorney. However I will state the obvious, if my legal skills and education were so “fake” why am I writing a rebuttal in an action in which it is very clear that I was VERY effective in executing legal procedure, asserting legal arguments, and efficiently uncovering Vernon Welch’s actions in a manner that required skillful jurisprudent analysis.
I, Marc C. Baron, attended University of Miami School of Law from 1993 – 1996. I graduated in May of 1996. If you have any doubt about this call the Registrar at the University of Miami School of Law and ask – the telephone number is (305) 284-4825, the email address is lawreg@law.miami.edu.
Upon graduation from University of Miami I worked at the Law Firm of Keller and Houck. I worked directly for John Keller. I choose to pursue a different course with my law education. I went on to work with an investment banking boutique, working on transactions on a global basis.
I am skilled and trained in asserting the legal rights that are afforded to all citizens of the United States by the Constitution of the United States and the laws of the various States. The US legal system does not limit an individual from asserting their rights to a hearing or disputing a perceived wrong -the right of defense against false allegation is not limited to only those who are licensed by a Bar Association.
All citizens of the United States may protect their legal interest, as long as it is done in a manner that is within the established laws and regulations. It is very clear to me that I was very successful in asserting and preserving the legal rights that governed the commercial transaction as described herein. It is very clear to me that Vernon Welch and the employees of Welch Aviation are ignorant hillbillies that acted in a dishonest manner, got caught and now are trying to gain sympathy for their misdeeds in a forum (the RIPOFF REPORT.com) that is flawed in that it allows an ignorant hillbilly to make a false allegation and to post a photo of me – without checking the facts to see if the allegations have merit. If Vernon Welch’s allegations could withstand the scrutiny of the court process – I promise you we would be in court – it is clear that his allegations are baseless and those of an ignorant hillbilly.
(d) Ripoff Report.com: The RipOff Report.com is a flawed website, and the situation that I have fully described and detailed in this rebuttal should make it clear to the intelligent reader why the RipOff Report.com is flawed. This website provides a forum to a party that cannot, for whatever reason, substantiate their case/argument in an accepted venue, to malign, slander and libel the character of another party.
(1) Accuser vs. Accused: There is a reason that the judicial system of the United States has been designed to allow the accuser to confront the accused in a forum that allows BOTH parties to tell their side of the story (to establish their case) and then have an impartial third party of peers determine the most likely truth. The RipOff Report.com violates a basic tenant of jurisprudence, there is no opportunity for both parties to tell their side of the story at the time of accusation – the accused must first learn of the accusation and then remedy the situation after the harm has been done.
(2) Perceived legitimacy: In the Ripoff Report.com, an ignorant hillbilly like Vernon Welch can spin his unsubstantiated tale of woe, and gain the “perceived” legitimacy of truth because he posted his comments on RipOff Report.com, when in fact his comments are not true rather just manipulated hogwash. RipOff Report.com does not take a basic step to protect the rights of an accused to request that an allegation be substantiated by an impartial third party prior to posting. In the internet era there are many companies that serve the purpose of third-party verification or validation. If RipOff Report.com was truly committed to protecting the integrity of the site – then a simple intermediary step would be instituted requiring all parties submit their allegations to a third-party agency for verification prior to being allowed to post on the RipOff Report. com. This third party verification would provide a basic level of legitimacy to the RipOff Report.com – absent of that, the RipOff Report.com is just another website filling the cyber world with crap.
(3) Disclaimer renders the RipOff Report.com site nothing more than a garbage pit: The RipOff Report.com has a detailed and broad “Disclaimer”. The necessity of such a disclaimer is to allow for unsubstantiated allegations to be published on the RipOff Report.com website and for RipOff Report.com to avoid being sued for being a party to or a vehicle of promotion for libel or slander . An intelligent person would pause and wonder “If the RipOff Report.com was such a reliable, objective, forum –why would it be necessary to have a 6,699 word disclaimer?” Well logic suggest that this disclaimer allows an ignorant hillbilly, like Vernon Welch and the Welch Aviation staff, to make unsubstantiated and slanderous statements and at the same time protects RipOff Report.com from legal action. The owners of RipOff Report.com know that this is in fact the case.
Furthermore the owners of RipOff Report.com know that there are many unsubstantiated, slanderous and libelous allegations on RipOff Report.com, their disclaimer provides a clear indication, for an intelligent reader, to know that any and all statements found on RipOff Report.com are questionable and suspect in respect to their veracity and probably would be refuted in a court of law. The disclaimer, as written by the owners of RipOff Report.com, is in itself the critical verbiage that renders the site nothing more than a garbage pit of useless conjecture and hearsay. The owners of RipOff Report.com know that any intelligent person would initiate a suit not against a hillbilly (Vernon Welch), the suit would be initiated against the vehicle (RipOff Report.com) that gave the bully pulpit to the hillbilly.
(4) Wasted Time: The end result is that a party, who has better things to do than to address some hogwash, must take time out of their day to redress a wrong that should have never been allowed to have seen the light of day.
So in this rebuttal I (Marc C. Baron) have done the following (a) described fully my relationship (or lack thereof) with Vernon Welch. I have also detailed the circumstances surrounding the dishonest actions of Vernon Welch, employees of Welch Aviation, Stan Helton and the Management of Express One International, (b)provided a full description of the legal action, including the federal statute(s) and agency that governs the action that was taken on behalf of my (or affiliated business associates) business /corporate interest, (c) provided a description of my legal education and background, and finally discussed the legitimacy (or lack thereof) of (d) Ripoff Report.com as a legitimate forum to address perceived transgressions.
Why file a report here? Ripoff Report is a permanent record! Other complaint sites copy our content then remove reports for money.
