Veterans Victimized in Apparent Inaugural Ball Scam

The Military Times is reporting that one of the many inauguration events in D.C., this one called the "Veterans' Inaugural Ball", has been canceled ane no one can locate the sponsor who sold all the pricey tickets:

As of 1:30 p.m. Monday, the links on the foundation’s Web site where tickets were sold — at prices topping $385 apiece — no longer work.

The St. Regis referred questions about the canceled ball to a phone number they had for Hayes, whom they identified as the sponsor and promoter. No one returned voice mails left for the foundation...

A representative of one veterans’ group that initially had been working with Hayes said he does not know what happened.

“He had been selling tickets online, but there were some kind of problems that we understand are now being investigated,” said the representative, who asked to not be identified.

Dante Hayes is listed as the president of a "A Brighter Future Foundation" which advertises itself as follows:

The ABF (A Brighter Future) Education Foundation is a newly constituted conservative research and educational institute focusing on public policy issues impacting African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and other ethnic people. Our overarching goal is to promote policy initiatives that will offer historically disenfranchised Americans the opportunity to share equally in the access to and pursuit of the "American Dream."

Obviously, corruption isn't limited to any specific political ideology. Caveat Emptor.

If you are going to the festivities in D.C., you can view some of the other inaugural events here. Hopefully, most of them aren't sleazy scams.