Not Who He Says He Is

The piece also serves as an advertorial for Lucas’s company, La Vision Advertising, and his new Spanish-language newspaper, El Suceso. He is portrayed as a force to be reckoned with in the advertising community, a man with expertise in delivering the Spanish-language market to advertisers.

Unmentioned is the fact that Lucas does not speak Spanish or possess any significant Hispanic heritage. He is not from Spain, as he has led some in the Nashville business community to believe, and his real name—which police say is definitely not Anthony Lucas—has no echo or lilt of any Latin nation.

In fact, most of Anthony Lucas’ carefully constructed image is complete fiction. His name, age and address as printed in the NBJ are false, according to police reports, court documents and testimonials from those who have crossed his path. Lucas’s real name is Abbas Tehrani, and according to police records, he was born in Iran in August 1951, making him 56 years old—not 48, as reported in the NBJ.

The man calling himself Anthony Lucas has been accused of extortion at least twice, once in Arizona in 1999, and once in Williamson County, in July 2004. In that case, he threatened to have the wife and young son of Mohammad Hossein Kashef-Mobarekeh—one of his oldest friends from Iran—deported if the man didn’t give him $100,000. According to a police report, Kashef-Mobarekeh refused to pay up and Lucas responded by sending “muscle men” to intimidate Kashef-Mobarekeh. Around this same time, Lucas’s landlord Wally Folad went to Lucas’ place of business to collect $2,000 that Lucas owed him. According to police, Lucas threatened to shoot Folad in the head if he didn’t leave immediately, though Lucas disputes that allegation.

Eventually Lucas joined the board of the Tennessee Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and used his position there to meet, and some say exploit, Hispanic business owners.

One of these, Marjorie Weller, runs the Miss Tennessee Latina pageant, and says that Lucas demanded that she turn over proceeds from her business simply because he’d registered the pageant’s name with the Secretary of State’s office.

Other Hispanic small business owners tell similar stories and have provided the Scene with threatening, barely literate emails that Lucas fired off when the owners wouldn’t acquiesce to his demands. A group of these business owners approached NBJ managing editor Garrison Wells to inform him about Lucas’ fraudulent claims. Those at the meeting say that Wells was receptive about their concerns and promised to look into the matter.

Wells did not return repeated calls seeking comment.

Lucas is trying to expand his sphere of influence through interaction with local and state government.

Last year, Metro Public Works and the Human Relations Commission paid Lucas over $2,500 for an advertising campaign that included bus-bench ads.

Lucas, who says he became a U.S. citizen 15 years ago, admits he was born in Iran and uses a different name than the one his parents gave him. He says his name has been legally changed, though as recently as February 2006 he was arrested for driving without a license and booked under the name Abbas Tehrani.

He characterizes himself as the victim, saying he’s being “crucified” and accused falsely by business owners. “I’m tired of people making false accusations and not being able to back it up.”

The man calling himself Anthony Lucas arrived in Middle Tennessee from Arizona sometime between 2002 and 2003 and entered into a business agreement with Mohammad Hossein Kashef-Mobarekeh, who goes by Sam. A few years earlier, in Arizona, an extortion charge against Lucas was dismissed, though the details of that case are unclear.

Kashef-Mobarekeh has known Lucas for 45 years, and their families still live on the same block in Iran. At the time Lucas arrived here, Kashef-Mobarekeh had been in the U.S. for over five years and was managing a gas station and convenience store called Triune Discount and Tobacco in Williamson County, according to court documents. In 2003, Wally Folad, who owned the market, decided to sell out to Kashef-Mobarekeh, his longtime employee.

Kashef-Mobarekeh brought Lucas in on the deal. Lucas incorporated their partnership with the Tennessee Secretary of State, using the name Dadkhah Tehrani—another of his aliases, Kashef-Mobarekeh says. At the time, Lucas also was sponsoring Kashef-Mobarekeh’s application for a work visa so he could remain in the U.S. Their partnership seemed secure, but just seven months into the business venture, Kashef-Mobarekeh says that Lucas tried to extort him.