Convicted fraudster who based LGTBQ journey agency is sued by rival

• Eric Hodgson based OUTbound in 2020 with Imply Women star Jonathan Bennett and Jaymes Vaughan
• Regardless of being on the heart of two lawsuits, Hodgson has continued to journey the globe, operating luxurious group journeys to Asia and Europe
• However his former employer, a rival journey firm, claims he’s a ‘serial fraudster’  

Luxurious LGBTQ vacation planner Eric Hodgson has travelled to 100 nations, ridden elephants, seen the pyramids and hopped across the globe from one high-end vacation spot to a different. 

His social media is crammed with photographs of him and his OUTbound journey firm co-founders ‘Imply Women’ star Jonathan Bennett and Jaymes Vaughan from ‘The Wonderful Race’.

However behind the glamourous footage, Hodgson has been embroiled in a collection of law-suits and complaints with a rival LGBTQ journey firm, Vacaya.

A decade in the past Hodgson was serving a nine-year jail sentence in California for defrauding the Californian Division of Transportation out of $1.9million. 

He was launched early in 2016, however 4 years later, he discovered himself on the heart of one other lawsuit, battling his former employer, Vacaya. 

Vacaya has now claimed in authorized paperwork seen by the LA Instances that Hodgson is a ‘serial fraudster’ who ‘has lied, cheated and stolen from others over the previous decade.’

Hodgson vehemently denies the claims, and says {that a} latest LA Instances article revealed about them is ‘factually inaccurate’ and ‘incorporates false data, misquotes’. 

He added: ‘I deny any accusations that I tried to defraud Vacaya in any method’ and says his time with the corporate was ‘extremely unfavorable, filled with combating, manipulation, coercion, plotting’. 

The story started in 2008, earlier than Hodgson entered the journey enterprise, when he was operating a printing store in Sacramento. 

He gained three state contracts value greater than $1.9million to publish particulars about upcoming authorities constructing tasks. 

He was purported to pay for the publications after which submit receipts to the division to be reimbursed.

However a random audit in 2011 found that he had solely revealed a handful of the hundreds of notices he had claimed for – and had submitted paperwork ‘containing solid or false signatures of actual or fictional workers of the publications’ to stroll away with the $1.9million. 

Through the subsequent investigation, he was revealed to have spent the cash to ‘repay his mortgage’, construct a pool, purchase flights and a ‘cruise a month’ for a complete yr. 

In April 2013, he was arrested and charged with 22 counts of grand theft, he pled responsible to seven counts and was sentenced to 9 years in jail by then-Legal professional Normal Kamala Harris.

He was ordered to pay again the $1.9million and compelled at hand over belongings together with a ‘assortment of Star Wars gadgets value greater than $10,000’. 

Hodgson admitted that he did the ‘flawed factor’ with Caltrans, and stated: ‘I take full accountability for getting in over my head & doing the flawed factor… however I felt trapped.’

He added: ‘I owned all of it, & the restitution has been happy in full.’

However that wasn’t the top of his authorized troubles. 

Whereas in jail, Hodgson was writing letters to his then-friend Randle Roper, who was within the technique of organising a LGBTQ journey firm, Vacaya. 

Vacaya alleges that at this level, Hodgson started to misinform them about his background – and his innocence within the Caltrans case. 

A lawsuit filed towards Hodgson by Vacaya in March and seen by the LA Instances reportedly claims: ‘As an alternative of approaching life outdoors of jail with an trustworthy, clear slate, Hodgson selected to double-down as a fraudster whereas feigning repentance for his prior crimes.’ 

They stated Hodgson informed them that he had been wrongly convicted, and it was going to be quashed, after which despatched them two allegedly solid paperwork claiming he had been cleared of the theft. 

Vacaya claimed they’d no cause to doubt that the paperwork had been actual, and when Hodgson was launched from jail in 2016, they determined to make use of him. 

In 2019, Hodgson was made a minority proprietor within the agency and given a ten per cent stake within the enterprise. 

However then, Vacaya declare that in a visit to South Africa in November 2019, Hodgson harassed an attendee.

They are saying that the particular person, often called ‘John Doe’ reported the harassment and Hodgson was suspended pending an investigation, he was then fired in March 2020. 

Hodgson denies this whole model of occasions. 

He claims Roper inspired him to submit the solid letters, and says he was by no means employed by Vacaya – and had solely labored for them as a contractor. 

He additionally says he ‘by no means as soon as touched John Doe, solicited him, pressured him or threatened him in any method, sexually or in any other case’.

Two weeks after he was fired, Hodgson launched his personal lawsuit towards Vacaya claiming they’d defrauded him out of his curiosity within the firm and conspired to not pay him. 

However throughout the course of the swimsuit, Vacaya started to suspect that Hodgson had lied to them about his innocence within the earlier courtroom case, and had solid the 2 letters. 

Authorized paperwork declare that when Vacaya’s attorneys confronted Hodgson’s lawyer, Thomas Barth, Hodgson admitted that the letters had been solid. 

Vacaya’s lawyer reportedly stated in a submitting: ‘Utilizing the assets of his graphics design firm, Phenix, your shopper’s capacity to forge paperwork appears to be limitless.’

When Vacaya offered the proof to the courtroom, Hodgson’s lawsuit was dismissed, and he was ordered to pay out $43,766 in sanctions to Vacaya – Barth was additionally ordered $28,555.

Vacaya and its homeowners issued a press release by way of their lawyer: ‘Mr. Hodgson’s lawsuit was dismissed and, after discovering that he sued Vacaya ‘to implement agreements that he procured partly by fraud,’ he was rightfully sanctioned by the Courtroom ‘to forestall and treatment the harms of abusive and wasteful litigation.

‘Vacaya refuses to debate the advantage of falsehoods that have already got been resolved and sanctioned by the Courtroom.’

All through each lawsuits, Hodgson has stored up appearances and based his personal LGBTQ journey firm, OUTbound, with Bennett and Vaughan.  

Though the trio have described themselves as proudly owning the corporate, and posted quite a few footage selling the model on-line, Hodgson says it’s really owned by his 81-year-old mom. 

He says that he has solely mentioned his authorized troubles with Bennett and Vaughan in ‘broad strokes’ and that they’ve ‘all the time been sympathetic’ however have ‘legitimate considerations’. 

OUTbound’s Bennett and Vaughan’s publicist informed the LA Instances: ‘We’re blindsided and completely shocked to be taught this data, and are launching our personal investigation accordingly.’