Liko Smith resurfaces: attorney threatens local media
From staff reports
Eneliko “Liko” Sean Smith, the Las Vegas boxer-turned-businessman who allegedly sought to acquire Sugar Loaf resort last spring — but found he had neither the money, nor the local support, nor the clean business record to open the long-shuttered ski resort in the middle of Leelanau County — has resurfaced.
According to a February 21 story in the Las Vegas Sun, Smith is now a top executive behind LV Air, which plans to partner with Las Vegas casinos on flights from New York to Sin City. Here’s the gist of the story:
A new charter air carrier that will distinctly link itself by name to Las Vegas and increase the number of seats coming in from the New York market by nearly 50 percent plans to begin operations by summer.
LV Air will fly four nonstop flights a day between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and McCarran International, increasing the number of seats coming into the market from there to 2,495 a day — nearly the twice the number that come in daily from Reno.
Sean Smith, who formerly worked in the hotel industry and is LV Air’s top executive, said the company would fly four leased wide-bodied Boeing 767 jets a day to and from Las Vegas with a mission of moving customers from the populous Northeast to the city’s casinos.
Here’s what CEO Kent Smith told Hotel Interactive about his role with LV Air, and Liko Smith:
Kent Smith said, “I will be doing everything from soup to nuts. I’ll be finding the best type of aircraft and working with Sean Smith (Chief Marketing Officer) on the marketing. Basically I’ll be doing a little bit of everything to make LV Air successful.”
And here’s an LV Air promotional video. One wonders how the tongue-and-cheek “no hangover policy”, which appears at 2:33 in the video, will play with the wealthy clientele.
Three days after the story was published in the Las Vegas Sun, the Glen Arbor Sun and at least one other northern Michigan media outlet received legal notices from Brian H. Kay, an attorney claiming to represent Liko Smith and LV Air. Mr. Kay threatened legal action, citing “numerous false statements that are defamatory to Mr. Smith and extremely damaging to his reputation. Mr. Kay doesn’t appear to “Google well” either.
Here’s the text from that email. (No further correspond has been received from Mr. Kay):
From: brian@flylvairnow.com
Date: February 24, 2011 2:07:52 PM CST
To: editorial@glenarborsun.com
Subject: Sean SmithI am legal counsel to LV Air LLC, a Nevada limited liability company (the “Company”). The Company is a new charter carrier based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and employs Sean Smith as its Chief Marketing Officer.
Reference is made to the following articles and postings that
appear on your website:http://glenarborsun.com/liko-smith-interview-part-1/
Please be advised that the foregoing materials that you have caused to be published (including certain comments by third parties that you have accepted and approved for publication) contain numerous false statements that are defamatory to Mr. Smith and extremely damaging to his reputation. In addition, such materials place Mr. Smith – and, by implication, his affiliates (including the Company) – in a false light, again causing substantial damage to his and their respective reputations and prospects.
Accordingly, demand is hereby made that you cause the articles and postings set forth above (including, without limitation, all comments thereto) to be immediately and permanently deleted from your website.
Should such removal not take place within 72 hours of the electronic submission of this demand, my clients shall vigorously pursue all legal and equitable remedies available to them.
Very truly yours,
Brian H. Kay
LV Air LLC
Director of Legal Affairs
Office: (702) 485-1111
Cell: (702) 686-8197
