A longtime member of the embattled Serenata Beach Club was arrested for trespassing at the oceanfront venue Friday evening in front of stunned onlookers, The Citizen has learned.
Jim Valenti, who first joined the club in 2015, said now former manager Michael Mota annulled his membership because he opposed the Rhode Island businessman’s bid to buy the property at auction last Thursday.
A locally-owned company, North American Trading Group, submitted the top bid of $1.51 million and has a tentative agreement to sell the property to a consortium of club members.
The retired attorney said several members invited him to attend a weekly happy hour — and that he took them up on the offer.
Valenti said he didn’t recognize Mota’s cancellation of his membership as valid, and that he had a right to be on the property as a guest regardless.
But a manager warned Valenti that he was not welcome, and that Mota — who has since left town — was informed of his presence.
St. Johns County Sheriffs deputies showed up soon after, and Valenti was handcuffed and taken into custody on a trespassing charge.
“The whole thing underscores what and who we are dealing with,” Valenti said of the incident — and his confrontation with Mota.
The long running Serenata drama began last year with sudden, unexplained closures and rumors of insolvency running rampant.
Former owner Molly Butler, a St. Augustine real estate agent, was eventually forced to relinquish the club after incurring $14 million in insurmountable debt.
Butler and her husband, Jeffrey Butler, pinned blamed for their financial straits on a COVID-19 loan scam that was eventually prosecuted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
The couple tried to maintain control of the club, but a judge put it up for foreclosure auction.
As the venue faltered at the beginning of the year, Mota was brought in to take the reins in February as a manager.
Some employees complained that they haven’t been paid under his watch, and that Mota failed to address their pleas for rightful compensation.
The mafia aficionado — who has operated La Cosa Nostra conventions and Sopranos superfan events — has been pursued by several creditors in the past.
Mota also has an interest in a Providence wedding hall that is currently facing an eviction push by city officials there.
The entrepreneur had sought to reassure skittish members that he was the man to restore the Serenata to full health and that he had a track record of successful ventures.
Valenti and a group of members opposed his push to buy the property, marshaling a group of dissidents willing to pool their money to secure it themselves.
Mota did not return a request for comment.
