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| Details of dishonest conduct of Dino Abbruzzese of |
I am writing this as a warning to future crew and charter clients of the Motor Yacht Gagagris and to warn people of dealing with Dino Abbruzzese. The M/Y Gagagris is a Mangusta 108 Open, formerly African Cat. Built by Overmarine and sold by the Rodriguez Group.
The details of the M/Y Gagagris are:
Italian Flagged
Registered in Rome
Official Number: ROMA 068 ND
The yacht is managed by:
Dino Abbruzzese
Sales Division
SNP Boat Services S.A.
A Rodriguez Group Company
The yacht is owned by:
Diamante Nero SRL &
Leaseint SPA
All of the above are involved in not paying 2 crew members for 3.5 months work.
Dino Abbruzzese was managing the M/Y Gagagris and hired myself and the Chief Stewardess through a crew agent the Luxury Yacht Group based in Antibes, France.
“I just wanted to let you know you have been submitted for one or more positions. The job ID # is 8060 and the contact person is Dino Abbruzzese”
We had an interview, and were offered the jobs on permanent employment. This was the 22nd July 2008. We had a week to get the yacht ready then went straight into the Rodriguez Rendezvous, a charter with the owner. Followed by a weeks charter with a Saudi Prince, a few days charter with a prospective English client for a Mangusta 108. Another few days charter with another prospective Russian Mangusta client. Another 2 day charter with a Couple that has just bought a 130 Mangusta followed by going to Sardinia for a 2 weeks charter with an Italian Business man. In October 2008 be were on standby for charter in San Remo. In November the crew was cut down to just the 2 of us and we were told we would be employed for winter to look after the yacht during winter. We have signed & stamped contracts with Diamante Nero and Dino Abbruzzese.
From October is started getting difficult getting our salaries. Dino always had a lot of excuses, his favourite one being that The Rodriguez Group was in dire financial trouble and was possibly going to go bankrupt. He says that the Rodriguez Group has run out of money and that is why he can’t pay us. That of course was not considering that Diamante Nero, owner the yacht and should be paying us, as it was Diamante Nero that was making 90 000 euro’s a week from charters that we had been crew for.
From me to Dino Abbruzzese:
2008/11/17 01:42 PM
“Hi Dino
I hope this email finds you well and that you had a good weekend. I wanted to check with you if you had managed to transfer the salaried for myself and **** that are still outstanding for the month of October? It has not been reflected in our bank accounts yet. Please could you look into this for us ASAP as we are going to incur bank charges if we don’t pay our bills.
Many Thanks and Kind Regards”
From Dino Abbruzzese to me:
2009/01/23 03:28 PM
“I am sorry for the delay but we are facing a problem of cash flow because of the banking situation and because of all the clients owing us money (huge amounts…). November and december works you have done for us will be paid as soon as possible I confirm (probably not before end january).
Best regards, Dino.
Dino Abbruzzese
Sales Division
SNP BOAT SERVICE S.A.
A RODRIGUEZ GROUP Company
Cell : +33 (0) 6 15 67 02 26
Off : +39 0184 59 12 43
Fax : +39 0184 54 70 93
dabbruzzese@rodriguezgroup.com”
We struggled to get any money for the running and maintenance of the yacht or for crew expenses, such as winter crew uniform/clothing, food etc:
From me to Dino Abbruzzese:
2009/02/09 06:44 PM
Hi Dino
I hope this email finds you well. I don’t mean to bother you but in regards to your last email, I was hoping you may know more about when we might be paid?
Kind Regards
From me to Dino Abbruzzese:
2008/09/22 12:43 PM
“Hi Dino
I hope this email finds you well. I have two things which I need to discuss with you so I thought I would send you an email for your perusal
Firstly we are freezing our butts off at the moment as we only have work shorts and T-shirts. We desperately need to get some winter crew clothes for myself and ****. When we were in Le Yacht Uniform shop last we had a look at the crew clothes (ie a fleece, Musto or similar warm winter jacket, wet weather gear, wellington boots and long work pants etc), we noticed that they were expensive and so did not get anything without talking to you 1st. That is however one option. The other option is we can get winter clothes from Decathlon, they have good clothes at much cheaper prices. We have looked there too and they have everything we need. Its up to you, but it is getting colder by the day and its becoming quite urgent for us. Please let me know.
Secondly, we need to sort out something in regards to boat petty cash. There are things that we need to buy with cash, that being, mostly crew food and drinks, interior cleaning products, light bulbs, kitchen utensils, miscellaneous. Normally we would be given petty cash per week or month and/or a debit card and credit card. Whichever way works better for you that’s fine, but we need to work this out. Of course in this respect I keep a detailed account of all boat money spent and all proof in the form of receipts.
Right now we need to go to Carrefour and get basic things which we don’t have (we have discovered this now that the cook has left), we don’t have silly things like a cheese slicer, potato masher, toilet rolls, kitchen towel, garbage bags, etc, and basic food stores.
Please think about this and get back to me as soon as you can. I am once again going to have to put my own money into the boat to keep it going.”
Each month until December was difficult but eventually we got our salaries.
From me to Dino Abbruzzese:
“Hi Dino
I hope this email finds you well.
In our last communication with you, you mentioned that our November 2008 salaries would be paid shortly, this was before Xmas. So I was hoping you had some news for us, as to when we may be getting paid for November and December 2009?
As you know we pay for everything ourselves on Gagagris and we are running low on money to live on. Our salaries would definitely be a big help right now.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Many Thanks and Kind Regards”
For 4 months and including when we left, the yacht did not have shore power and I had to run a generator to power the yacht during the day to charge the battery systems, run the fridges, toilet systems etc. I had to switch off the electricity during the night as we were running out of diesel. During the winter we had some massive storms in San Remo, the worst storms in 10 years, resulting in snapped mooring lines and fenders breaking etc. If it was not for us being onboard to deal with these things I hate to think what the damage would have been like.
From December until April, Dino Abbruzzese asked us to present him with invoices for the work we had done. We did this and still did not receive payment. I can’t help but wonder what happened to those invoices? Perhaps they were presented and paid, just not to us…? See attached scan.
In March 2009, the M/Y Gagagris was boarded by the Italian Guardia Finanza in San Remo, Italy. They seized the yachts papers as the yacht had not paid certain taxes and obtained required licenses for registration and operation. I had to deal with this as I was listed as crew. Once again the yacht was not legal. I have all this documentation.
From 1 December to 15 April 2009 we did not and have still not received our salaries for working onboard the M/Y Gagagris. We left the yacht in April to join a new yacht as we could not afford to stay on Gagagris any longer without being paid. We contacted a lawyer in Italy who advised us the only course of action was to try and have the yacht arrested in order to get the money that was owed to us. This is still ongoing. We have signed and stamped testimonials from 4 Captains on yachts around us in Portsole Marina, San Remo, where Gagagris was berthed. These testimonials state the following: also see attached scan.
“RE – TESTIMONIAL FOR **** & **** / M/Y GAGAGRIS
To Whom It May Concern:
This letter hereby certifies that I have personally witnessed **** & **** working as permanent crew members on the M/Y Gagagris as the yacht was berthed in Portosole Marina, San Remo, Italy. This is verified from 1 October 2008 until 15 April 2009.
I conclude that to the best of my knowledge **** & **** were seen to be performing their duties and maintaining the M/Y Gagagris to the best of their ability and in keeping with their stipulated duties.
If you have any queries in this regard please do not hesitate to contact me.”
When we left the yacht we had a Exit Crew List signed, stamped and witnessed by SNP Boat Services stating the reason for leaving: also see attached scan.
“CREW MEMBERS **** & **** ARE DISCHARGING THEMSELVES FROM THE M/Y GAGAGRIS, EFFECTIVE 15 APRIL 2009 – PORTOSOLE MARINA, SAN REMO, ITALY – CREW MEMBERS LEAVING DUE TO UNPAID SALARIES FROM JANUARY 2009, FEBRUARY 2009, MARCH 2009 & APRIL 2009. ALL RESPONSIBILITY ON THE PART OF THE AFOREMENTIONED CREW MEMBERS TO THE M/Y GAGAGRIS IS HEREBY DISSOLVED.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE M/Y GAGAGRIS IS HANDED OVER TO SNP BOAT SERVICES, SAN REMO, ITALY. THE YACHT IS NOTED TO BE IN A MAINTAINED AND GOOD STATE.”
I warn you not to work for or do business with Dino Abbruzzese because he cannot be trusted to fulfil his obligations and honour his agreements. I know this from experience because I had the misfortune of working for him.
Myself and the Chief Stewardess worked on this poor excuse for a yacht for 9 months. During this time we put up with all types of pathetic excuses, lack of operating budget, bad decisions, illegal charters and general bad management. We left this yacht because we were not paid for 3.5 months (Jan, Feb, March & half of April 2009) by Dino Abbruzzese and Diamante Nero. We have still not been paid to date, 6 September 2009.
The Motor yacht Gagagris is a sub standard yacht which does not meet any minimum operating safety standards yet still manages to charter. In September 2008 in Sardinia the yacht was crashed 4 times in 3 weeks due to problems that were identified & reported yet not given the go ahead to be fixed. The yacht crashed into other yacht and generally caused havoc all over the med. The yacht was boarded by customs & the Italian Gaurdia Finanza several times and in each case lied and hide the fact that the yacht was in fact chartering. The yacht had drugs onboard and used onboard and changed crew like crazy without proper due course. All due to poor management or rather the lack thereof.
The yacht runs completely illegal paid charters, no commercial code, no papers, no safety plan, it can’t even take duty free diesel because of this. It is amazing that people still charter this yacht, I suppose they just don’t know any better and they would have Dino Abbruzzese feeding them false information along the way. It is just a matter of time before there is a major accident involving this yacht and people get hurt.
I have worked in the yachting industry for 11 years and never in all this time have I encountered problems like this on a yacht. Never have I not been paid for work done like this. It is truly pathetic and people deserve to know about this in order to prevent themselves falling victim to the same incompetence by Dino Abbruzzese. Of course this guy is making a lot of money for himself, dishonest people usually do. If only the Rodriguez group knew how much they were being ripped off by this guy. Dino Abbruzzese organised and ran charters on the M/Y Gagagris that both the Rodriguez Group and the owner of the Yacht were not aware of, taking the charter money for himself. I have documents showing this.
If you decide to do business or work with Dino Abbruzzese, then you do so at your own risk and do say you weren’t warned. Good luck, you will need it.
Comments
RSS for comments on this Hub
Status: Approved
ip: 217.201.97.56John T says:
2 months ago
I have had business dealings with Mr. Dino Abbruzzese of the Rodriguez Group and can without a doubt confirm that he is all of the things described in this report and more.
Status: Approved
ip: 95.75.108.119Alex & Kirsten says:
2 months ago
We worked on another yacht in San Remo at the same time that Brett & Claire were on Gagagris. We know that this is what happened and this is all true. There are many people that can confirm it. Dino Abbruzzese is a dishonest idiot.
Status: Approved
ip: 217.202.20.139Capt Ralph says:
2 months ago
I am a Captain of a yacht based in Portsole Marina, San Remo and I am aware of this situation. What is mentioned in this blog is true and accurate. I would have nothing to do with Dino Abbruzzese, Diamante Nero and the Rodriguez Group. I would aslo stay far away from the motor yacht Gagagris.
Status: Approved
ip: 217.203.189.102English Crew says:
2 months ago
What makes people like Dino Abbruzzese think they can get away with stuff like this?
Status: Approved
ip: 96.231.88.232WeldonResearchers says:
2 months ago
Interesting turn of events. I hope it all works out for you.
Status: Approved
ip: 95.74.241.200HH says:
2 months ago
This is a very sad state of affairs. What is the industry coming to when crew dont get paid? I hope this abruzese character gets whats coming to him.
Status: Approved
ip: 95.74.241.200Crew2008 says:
2 months ago
afvs8tj65c
Status: Approved
ip: 217.201.99.213MY Victory says:
2 months ago
Dino Abbruzzese sounds like a typical industry asshole.
Status: Approved
ip: 217.203.104.178Dean H says:
2 months ago
Dino abruzzese sells new and used mangusta yachts, I have heard he has a bad reputation from other people too. I asked to deal with a differnt broker when my boss was interested in a used mangusta.
Status: Approved
ip: 217.201.23.13Captain Stuart Wilkins says:
2 months ago
I hope the Rodriguez Group fire Dino Abruzzese and do the yachting industry a favor.
Status: Approved
ip: 84.108.137.21Aaron M says:
2 months ago
Pay what you owe Dino, otherwise you are effectively buying negative publicity. Do the right thing, you will feel better about yourself and remember things that go around, come around...
Status: Approved
ip: 217.201.110.50Lisa says:
2 months ago
You would think paying the crew for work done would be a better option than getting a bad reputation from this!! Wake up Dino!!
Status: Approved
ip: 217.202.71.164John Meyers - MY Fox says:
2 months ago
How interesting. The owner of the yacht that I am currently the captain of, is looking at a 130' Mangusta. Guess I will make sure Dino Abbruzzese has nothing to do with the deal. Thanks for the info.
Status: Approved
ip: 217.202.217.95Captain of 92' Mangusta says:
2 months ago
I can certainly confirm that Dino Abruzzese is useless. He sold my boss a new 92 foot mangusta yacht and promised all sorts of things to get the sale. After that he would not answer our calls or emails. None of the after sales service that he promised ever materialized. I have also heard this from other people who made the mistake of dealing with him. My advice, stay clear of this guy, insist on using someone else instead
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Posted by JSparrow on 2009-11-20 04:13:32 | Rating: | Views: 101
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