Home Care In Sullivans Island, SC

A Lowcountry, South Carolina couple are suing their former friends and business partners over a beer business gone bad, according to a civil suit filed in Charleston County last week.

According to the lawsuit, plaintiffs Lisa Pollner and Caleb Fournier of Sullivans Island, S.C. are suing their former friends and neighbors – Scott Hansen and Meghan Hansen (along with two business entities) – in an effort to “remedy the fraud carried out by (the Hansens) to entice the plaintiffs to invest $500,000 into a beer business, only to learn that the Hansens used all of the funds invested for their personal benefit, trips and every day expenses.”

That beer business, Island Brands, reportedly attracted numerous Lowcountry investors who are now raising questions about the money they put in. The company also obtained significant capital through crowdsourcing.

The complaint from Pollner and Fournier – filed last Thursday (August 28, 2025) in Charleston County – alleged that Scott Hansen “fancied himself as the mastermind behind Island Brand” and as a “show man who would market the start-up beer company into success.”

“In actuality, he was a roadside con artist,” the filing continued.

According to the complaint (.pdf), the Hansens “met and befriended” Poller and Fournier in early 2018, becoming “close friends” with them.

“Lisa and Caleb trusted Scott and Meghan, cared for their children and believed the feeling was mutual,” the filing noted.

In May of 2018, after allegedly being approached by Scott Hansen, Poller and Fournier made an initial investment of $125,000 in Hansen’s venture – which purportedly secured for them a 2.5% equitable stake in Island Brands’ parent company, American Beverage Holding LLC. According to the complaint, though, this money “was not an investment, it was a support system for Scott and Megan.”

“The funds allegedly invested by Lisa and Caleb into ABH were used by the Hansens for a week-long vacation in Telluride, Colorado,” the lawsuit claimed. “They also used the funds for their online subscriptions, such as for Netflix and Xbox, paid for their groceries and medicines, gas, Starbucks, and fancy meals.”

The Hansens “took active steps to conceal the truth” about the money, including “having lawyers produce documents showing the investment and the value of it.”

Four months after the initial investment – in October of 2018 – Poller and Fournier wired another $125,000 to the Hansens as part of an additional investment in the venture, per the lawsuit, allegedly unaware they had already “blown through the money.”

“Scott and Meghan continued using Lisa and Caleb’s money for their own needs and to support the façade of a wealthy, successful couple,” the complaint alleged. “In actuality, they were both fraudsters.”

Four months after that payment – in February of 2019 – Hansen allegedly made false representations to Fournier about acquiring an additional stake in his businesses, this time requiring a $250,000 payment.

Once again, per the complaint, Pollner and Fournier ponied up the cash – which, according to their complaint, allowed the Hansens to “finance their fake lifestyle, masquerading as successful people living the good life on Sullivans Island.”

Throughout this time, Pollner and Fournier allegedly continued to believe they were “founding members” of Hansen’s company and “would routinely attend Island Brand events and often remark to guests of their commitment to ABH and their investments.”

Fournier also allegedly spent another $30,000 of his own money on “marketing events with local bands and DJs” in an effort to grow the business.

All the while, according to the lawsuit, Hansen was taking “active steps to fraudulently conceal his conduct, specifically the fact that he pocketed Lisa and Caleb’s money and that they were not, in fact, investors in ABH.”

Meanwhile, Hansen allegedly used another company he created – MOTU LLC – to house his and his wife’s interest in the company.

According to the lawsuit, Hansen was eventually “forced out” of his role as CEO of Island Brands – leaving the company on the “brink of bankruptcy.”

A private equity firm reportedly purchased the “limited assets” of the brand at some point within the last two years, including its beer recipe and name. ABH – the company Pollner and Fournier purportedly invested in – was dissolved in May 2025.

An undated notice posted to Island Brands website offered its former investors a bitter aftertaste.

“As the new brand operators of Island Brands, we recognize that when ABH HoldCo. ceased operations it resulted in a loss of investment for its founding investors,” the notice stated. “Therefore, as the new brand owners we want to extend our gratitude for your continued support and offer all previous investors a 50% rebate on all retail purchases of Island Coastal Lager and Island Active beer products.”

The rebate is only good through March 31, 2026, however.

FITSNews has reached out to Island Brands for comment. In the event we receive a reply, we will certainly provide that information to our audience – just as we also intend to publish any and all formal answers to these claims filed by attorneys representing the defendants.

is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.

SULLIVAN’S ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - Potential changes are underway for Sullivan’s Island erosion control structure ordinance.

Erosion control structures are not allowed to be constructed in RC-1 and RC-2 Recreation and Conservation Area Districts without town and agency approvals, according to.

Town leaders say the ordinance prohibits structures such as fill, bulkheads, seawalls targets areas along the back portions of the beach as well as marsh areas.

Town Planning and Zoning Director Charles Drayton says the idea to amend the ordinance was first brought up in May 2024.

“We’ve had some concerns brought to us from some of the residents back there who are experiencing tidal inundation in their properties currently, and we’re looking for ways to address that in an environmentally friendly fashion,” Drayton says.

The idea falls in line with the town’s progress towards a Sea Level Adaptation and Resilience Plan. The plan is meant to create community-wide recommendations to protect the island from future flood events.

Some recommendations included creating natural buffer areas that will give rising tides space before any impacts to property.

Drayton says the plan also considers an amendment to the town ordinance that only allows one foot of fill to be added on properties. Drayton says seven feet and four inches is the height predicted to protect homes from sea-level impacts in about 50 years.

“Consideration for allowing greater fill on some of these low-lying lots that are more susceptible to tidal flooding so that they would be able to build their building pad at seven and a half feet.”

Resident Eric Dodson says he appreciates the town’s steps towards a protective plan. He shared concerns that the plan will only allow homeowners to adapt to sea-level rise.

“What we need to do is defend against it. That adaptation that’s recommended takes years to basically start to take hold when we’re under constant attack right now. And we need to do this today, and it needs to be effective today. Not 10 years from now or five years from now.”

He hopes officials understand how storm events impact homeowners on a frequent basis.

“Inundates the downstairs, the garage level and creates thousands of dollars of damage. The storm we had in December, about a year and a half ago, was a significant budget impact. Because it basically took everything out and that wasn’t even a named storm.”

Dodson says he denied approval for a bulkhead to defend against sea-level rise impacts to his property over a year ago. He wishes to see a change that follows regulations under the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services instead of restrictive town regulations.

“We’re trying to do is replace our revetment with a bulkhead because it’s stronger, more resilient, and the revetment is currently not working in maintaining the ability for our property not to continue to wash into the marsh.”

The resilience plan will go to town council leaders for preliminary review on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

If any changes are made to the plan, it will go to the council again for a final reading in September.

Copyright 2025 WCSC. All rights reserved.

SULLIVAN’S ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – Sullivan’s Island residents and town officials gathered Monday morning to discuss the possibility of dredging Cove Creek, as sediment build-up is becoming a safety and health hazard.

Throughout the past few years, residents on Sullivans Island have watched Cove Creek change. What was once a vibrant creek for many visitors and locals alike, is now shallow with murky water. The impact of the sediment build-up is hard to ignore.

This growing issue has made it harder for boaters, and those with docks along the creek, to navigate. Residents along the creek like Loren Ziff, said the lack of dredging has impacted their area significantly, with tremendous silting occurring even to this day.

“You have to time your life to the tides and you have to manage yourself accordingly from a safety standpoint, because you have to worry about access to your dock or to and getting in and out of the creek and not being stuck.” said Ziff. He explained the growing concern of this issue is purely safety and to a degree of convenience.

Changing water levels aren’t the only concern, some residents said they now worry about pollution. Sullivans Island resident of 15 years, Hannah Dodson attended today’s meeting to express the urging concern of safety at the creek for all of it’s visitors. Dodson explained they used to swim and jump off the dock and enjoy the creek, but now she hesitates to get in the water.

“Even at the higher tides, the creek has silted, it has filled in. It’s just plain shallow. And there’s more and more mud, between the edge of the yards and out to the center of the creek.” said Dodson.

The town officials discussed the possibility of dredging the creek, and what options are at hand. Sullivans Island Councilmember, Carl Hubbard, questioned the timeline and steps of the permitting process. “Do you get the permit and then go after the requests for bids or is there a heads up on the cost first” said Hubbard.

Residents at the meeting said they won’t stop pushing for a permanent solution, and the sooner the better, as they worry, the problems are compounding.

“I’m really concerned that that pollution is going to dump right onto the mud and sit there and fester and make the pollution problem that much worse. So we really want to see the creek dredge. We want to see it dredge on an ongoing basis.” said Dodson.

Residents also said they’re hopeful this meeting was a step in the right direction. The discussion will be continued at next Monday’s meeting.