Cherry Grove Pier family drama: Co-owners stealing from N. Myrtle businesses, sister says
The future of the popular Cherry Grove Fishing Pier is in question after a co-owner of the longtime family-run operation accused her brothers of misappropriating and mismanaging their business assets.
Elizabeth Prince Gann, a minority owner in the entities overseeing the pier, Prince Resort and Driftwood Restaurant in North Myrtle Beach, filed the lawsuit Monday alleging that her brothers, Edward Prince III and Robert Naugher Prince, are refusing to provide financial information that she’s entitled to, including bank statements and sales records.
Those records, if provided, would show the brothers are involved in a kickback scheme, overpaying contractors and employees with the understanding they’ll return a portion of those excess funds to them personally, Gann alleges. Gann also believes her brothers have hired unlicensed contractors to repair the pier and sought to misuse insurance funds received after Hurricane Ian severely damaged the structure in 2022, the lawsuit states.
Messages left seeking comment at phone numbers listed to Edward and Robert Prince were not immediately returned.
Cherry Grove Pier fully reopened this summer after storm surge from Hurricane Ian destroyed a large section in the middle of the pier, The Sun News has previously reported. The fishing pier has been owned by the Prince family since 1965 and was left to the original owners’ children after Margaret Prince died in 2019, the lawsuit notes.
Edward and Robert Prince have since conspired against Gann by voting together on all business decisions to form a de facto majority interest, according to the complaint. The partnership overseeing the businesses previously distributed about $600,000 annually to its members, but stopped doing that after 2022, the suit adds.
In addition to seeking an order requiring all financial records be provided to her, Gann is also requesting a judge expel her brothers from the entities overseeing the businesses and potentially dissolve those entities and liquidate their assets — meaning the pier, restaurant and resort could be sold.
Gann previously sued her family members in 2016, alleging Edward Prince, serving as business manager at the time, had inappropriately taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from business accounts to pay for personal expenses, including legal fees, credit card bills and birthday gifts.
That case resulted in a 2017 settlement agreement, where all parties agreed the restaurant and pier would be managed by a third-party property management company, according to Gann. Her brothers breached that agreement by terminating the management company they hired without her consent, the complaint states.
This story was originally published November 6, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
