Hi everyone. I know some time has passed since there has been a discussion on this website. I’ve debated quite a bit sharing my entire story, but due to the nature of one particular incident I thought was important to tell. For my safety, I am choosing to remain anonymous at this time.
I first want to say thank you to the people who have come forward, and also to thank the people who have shown their support.
The second thing I want to say is that what people have shared is not only true, it’s only scratched the surface of some of the more insane things that I have witnessed directly. I can 100% say that IFI does in fact harbor an abusive work culture. Some of us had worked there so long that those who were not abused themselves grew numb to it, and much of the behavior others have described just felt normalized over time. I won’t go into too much detail on how I in particular felt wronged, as I don’t want to be identified. I also feel that the mental trauma I deal with pales in comparison to what others have mentioned, and some even darker elements that have yet to be mentioned. There was also some thought that sharing those parts could harm their credibility as it’s a lot harder to believe. Some of the people who have come forward probably know how much worse it gets, but have not shared out of fear. I will however, share one story as just one example of how much worse it gets and why some people might be afraid.
After an event sponsored by the company, I was invited to go to Tony’s house. While I’d been to several of the parties, this would be the first and only time I had gone with just a small group. I remember it being a very uncomfortable situation, but it was also a little exciting. Initially, I was sitting at a table by the pool with a group of guys who did not work at IFI, but were apparently at his house quite a bit. Tony joined us at the table with some other guests that had arrived. This other group, I believe, were some new friends of his and it was their first time at his house. He was telling them stories about all of the things he’s done and the people he’s met, and generally just making himself seem cool for his new friends. I believe he was very intoxicated at the time, because this particular story caught my attention.
Tony had a large collection of firearms, some of which are restricted. While I personally had only seen the guns in the gun room, he told a story about how one of these in particular were once stolen from his bedroom by a local troublemaker who had come to one of his parties. After viewing camera footage he identified the person and met with local law enforcement (can’t remember if it was county or city police) and told them that if they didn’t handle the situation, that he would, and that they wouldn’t like it because he would call the “mercs” on him and said “because last time someone f—-d with my family I called the ‘mercs’ on them.”
I’m not sure how much of this story is true, and how much of it is just him trying to sound tough and cool, because why would he share this with people he barely knew? But I definitely felt like I had just heard something I wasn’t supposed to. It’s worth noting that I heard this several months after someone else closer to the “in” group drunkenly confessed that they knew Tony had paid to have someone killed in China that had given his fiancé’s family problems. Tony has also bragged about being good friends with people in organized crime, some I believe are friends of his from the Gumball 3000 thing he participates in every year. Again, this could absolutely be Tony talking himself up with partial truths or outright lies. Either way, this shows that he is either reckless and dangerous or a massive child.
I know this aspect of the situation is a lot harder to swallow, especially without proof on my end. But I think people need to understand that there are parts of this that go far beyond what has been mentioned so far and that due to the severity and potential extremes, we don’t let them just sweep these things under the rug like they have done for so long.