By Kelvin “Six~Four” Cowans
Movement V is a Business Consulting Firm that specializes in Forensic Auditing, Business Strategic Planning and Real Estate Development. The Founder of Movement V is Eric Pettus and the Co-Founder of Movement V is Amy Dawkins since 2019.
Pettus & Dawkins have previously worked on high-profile financial fraud cases involving the likes of former NFL players Fred Taylor (Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots), Clinton Portis (Denver Broncos, Washington Redskins), Lito Shepard (Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders), Plaxico Burress (Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, New York Jets, New York Giants, Arizona Cardinals), Jevon Kearse (Tennessee Titans, Philadelphia Eagles), and others.
In a Sports Illustrated Article entitled, “Complaint: Rule discriminates against minority players” Pettus, a former NAACP, Legal Redress Committee Chair, called out the Kansas community colleges presidents for the practice of recruiting out of state athletes and trapping many of them with debt and using them for their financial aid awards. Pettus spent a year working to rid the JUCO system in Kansas of the “Out-of-State Rule” which some called code for “Black.” Pettus called the rule and it’s practice a “cash cow” for the way it lured and mislead aspiring athletes by “selling them…. the dream of going and playing at a higher level.”
Continuing my important investigative journaling into the lives of Kelvin Hunter Sr. and Talk Show Queen Wendy Williams, I peeled back another layer to gain more insight on the financials of the case. Let’s move away from the noise of the followers of this story who wish to permanently nail Kelvin Hunter to the wall, solely for his marital infidelity. Multiple American studies show that 50% of marriages end in divorce, as well as 60% of second marriages and 73% of third marriages. In other words, let’s not pretend that we don’t know anyone that’s had an affair, so let’s dive deeper than infidelity and learn something from this story. I uncovered this side dish of sorts to go with the main course readers and followers are very aware of, but not to this extent.
Over 20 years ago, I heard an elderly guy in a barber shop say without stutter, “Marriage is the biggest financial decision any person will ever make.” Without offering an opinion I shook my head, and squinted my eyes in disagreement, and thought to myself, “What about love?” He leaned back in his chair while the barber finished his razor line to his grey filled beard, as I quickly assessed he obviously wasn’t talking about the love part of marriage, it was the divorce part. I now know that divorce is a part of most marriages almost kin to the truth that death is a part of life. When it comes to Eric Pettus’ and Amy Dawkins’ practice, love is not what they focus on either. With a combined forty years of financial experience, in their latest venture, the Founder and Co-Founder of Movement V chase down numbers, add them up and then confidently allow the opposition time to explain how they’re wrong and Movement V is right.
Kelvin Cowans(KC): Kelvin Hunter, Sr. hired your firm to review the financial aspects of his Marital Settlement Agreement and the stoppage of his severance payments, is that true?
Amy Dawkins: We have been hired by Mr. Hunter to do a review of the Marital Settlement Agreement and determine whether the financial aspects of that agreement have been honored. We have quickly determined that Mr. Hunter has not received all of the financial remedies that were outlined in the agreement. So, our next step is to determine whether payments to Mr. Hunter was unjustly stopped. We’ve been retained to do a forensic audit to determine whether Ms. Williams has funds available to continue to honor the terms of the Marital Settlement Agreement.
“I have 24-hour armed police officers outside of my house kind of vetting everyone that comes to my front door,” she told Page Six. “It’s starting to affect my life…I’m a prisoner in my own home.” She also said that her work on Williams’ account has put her family “at risk.”
“I’m kind of living in my own personal hell here,” she continued.
“All I’ve done was follow the law to the tee, and I’ve been praised by Wells Fargo for all of my efforts.”
However, the bank hasn’t come out publicly to state as such. Schiller said in response, “I’ve given them ample time to come to my defense and make a statement, and for some reason, they are just putting it to the side.” -Lori Schiller, Yahoo News November 8, 2022
K.C.: What is the public not understanding about Kelvin Hunter, Sr. in this situation? The consensus is that Kelvin is suing Wendy?
Eric Pettus: Mr. Hunter is not suing Ms. Williams. It’s not the case that he is seeking additional money or compensation. Mr. Hunter and Ms. Williams got a divorce where Mr. Hunter and Ms. Williams made an agreement which is outlined in great detail in their Marital Settlement Agreement. Normally when we work on a case, we work on it when a divorce is occurring so that we can review all of the account balances and values of properties so that we can determine what both parties are entitled to. We know when the parties got married and we know when they separated, and we can tell you how long that marriage lasted down to the second with the right information. Then we can take that amount of time and calculate how much of their assets should be split between the parties. It may seem like an insensitive way of saying it, but we can tell you how much each second of the marriage was worth.
Amy Dawkins: When the payments stopped back in January of 2022, we wanted to know to what funds were remaining, and the interest on the payments that have not been paid which, in our opinion, is still sitting somewhere and it should be paid to Mr. Hunter.
K.C.: Multiple news outlets and bloggers have reported on this story and in particular the financial fight. A fight in which they often report in the most click bait fashion, with bold pictures, where comedy meets fiction and facts are distorted. No disrespect to their hustle, but creatively they’re the National Enquirers modern media grandchildren. Anyhow, what is the public truly missing when it comes to the Marital Settlement Agreement?
Amy Dawkins: Section 6.05 B, of the Marital Settlement Agreement states, “Commencing as of February 1, 2020, the parties agree that Husband shall receive a Severance Agreement from Wendy, Inc., or another business entity of her choice. However, notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event The Wendy Williams Show is canceled or is no longer being produced and Wendy has no other show being aired or Wendy suffers an involuntary decrease in her yearly earned income, not caused by any disease or disability, Husband’s yearly payments under such Severance Agreement shall be subject to termination and/or modification as the case may be. Wife’s yearly earned income shall be defined as wife’s W-2 Income and any income paid or received by her as a result of working on the show.” The primary issue that most people are not aware of is that Ms. Williams is not an employee, and she was not terminated. Ms. Williams signed a contract with Debmar-Mercury Production Company that we have requested and have yet to see any evidence of it having been terminated.
KC: The verbiage that Ms. Dawkins just referenced sounds different than what we’ve been reading in the press and hearing on blog sites? So partially factual?
Eric Pettus: That is correct, it is in fact different from what has been leaked in the press. It’s obvious that there was a willful and malicious intent to mislead the public into believing that Mr. Hunter is somehow trying to kick Ms. Williams while she is down for a money-grab. One media outlet attributed a redacted version of the Marital Settlement Agreement to ‘the attorney wrote’ in which the verbiage, “not caused by any disease or disability…” was removed.
Amy Dawkins: Releasing a redacted version of the agreement, we believe is a feeble attempt to discredit Mr. Hunter’s legitimate claim. The truth is that he is simply requesting the money they mutually agreed to be disbursed. Debmar-Mercury has publicly stated that the reason Ms. Williams would no longer host the show was to provide her with the opportunity to make a full recovery. The parties who petitioned the court for guardianship of Ms. Williams claim to have done so because of her health issues. Those facts coupled with this verbiage means unequivocally that Mr. Hunter is entitled to his payments without modification and definitely without termination.
K.C.: In a letter dated September 21, 2022 addressed to Mr. Hunter’s then attorney to be presented to the Court, you guys were seeking to perform a forensic audit. What is the reason it was requested?
Amy Dawkins: The reason it was requested is that at the time the Marital Settlement Agreement was executed, it only showed an itemized list of financial accounts with balances. There were no official account statements or other documents that corroborated those figures. In our experience, it is highly unusual to see a divorce conclude without any bank statements or other records. Mr. Hunter was advised by his attorney to have a “limited discovery” in his divorce. Again, this is highly unusual, particularly in a divorce with such a large amount of assets purported. In order to expedite the divorce, Mr. Hunter signed off on the paperwork, in good faith. But what we are looking to do now is verify whether the balances that were reported were accurate.
Eric Pettus: Mr. Hunter’s position is that the parties currently controlling Ms. Williams’ finances, not Ms. Williams, illegally and contentiously ceased disbursing his payments. I am still trying to find out why his former attorney, who I’ve learned is now a judge, failed to file a motion for contempt and enforcement of the Marital Settlement Agreement. Every attorney that Mr. Hunter has consulted with since his attorney suddenly and unceremoniously withdrew from the case is amazed that the attorney would allow him to agree to receive his severance payments in any other arrangement than a lump sum. Most attorneys claim that they would do this without Mr. Hunter signing a waiver of liability to ensure that he would not hold them responsible if the other party stopped paying or ran out of money. There was no waiver signed or any alternative advice given.
Amy Dawkins: They are basically saying that Ms. Williams has no money because of her termination which is ludicrous, and they want Mr. Hunter to concede the point without any documentation.
K.C.: I know that both of you previously worked on a big NFL case, the one in which about 60 NFL Players were swindled out of millions of dollars, how does that case compare to this one?
Eric Pettus: That case that I refer to as the Terrell Owens case because of his infamous appearance on television at the time. I will never forget how saddened we were to see T.O. crying that after playing for the San Francisco 49ers and the Philadelphia Eagles. He trusted the wrong people who took advantage of him. Mr. Owens was not the only player victimized by unscrupulous advisors at that time. I hate seeing articles that blame the players for their advisors violating their trust. It’s been a common practice, when athletes end up broke to blame the athlete for frivolous spending and etc. but most of those narratives are false. The Wendy Williams and Kelvin Hunter case is similar in that it wasn’t until Wendy attempted to fire her advisor that these allegations of undue influence and etc. were levied. Prior to that there seems to have been little concern about her condition. Where this case differs is in the was that Mr. Hunter has been attacked. The misinformation and the disinformation surrounding this case has been astonishing. I really wish that people following this story would actually read the story. I’m convinced, after reading your first two stories and reading many of the comments, that the majority of the people have not read much more than the headlines yet have already formed an opinion.
Amy Dawkins: I am surprised at how many people think that Mr. Hunter is not entitled to his agreed upon share of the marital assets. There is clearly a double standard in this case. It is my hope that people will read this article and understand that while people lie, the numbers never do.
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