VERO BEACH — A Texas property management company and its principal have sued a local conservative podcaster, a former Fox News commentator and several Indian River County Republican officials, accusing them of launching a coordinated smear campaign that falsely branded the firm as part of a radical Islamic plot to build a “Sharia Law” enclave in Florida.
EPIC ESTATES FL LLC and Venkatesh Yerramsetty filed the 55-page complaint Friday in circuit court, seeking more than $50,000 in damages for defamation and civil conspiracy. The plaintiffs say the false accusations cost them a $30 million land sale, drove up security costs and forced them to spend months reassuring buyers, officials and neighbors that they have no religious agenda.
“This is an action for damages exceeding $50,000 arising out of claims for defamation and for civil conspiracy to defame,” the lawsuit states.
The trouble began Sept. 9, 2025, when Yerramsetty addressed the Indian River County Board of County Commissioners during public comment. He described Epic Estates’ 7,000 acres of former citrus groves west of Interstate 95 as a potential future home for a group of software engineers from across the country who wanted to retire in Vero Beach. He mentioned possible zoning changes for residential, affordable housing or commercial use — nothing about religion.
Within weeks, podcaster Joann Binford seized on the remarks. In her Oct. 11, 2025, episode of “The Binford Chronicles,” she called Yerramsetty’s Indian heritage a “red flag” because India has a large Muslim population and some banks offer Sharia-compliant loans. She spliced clips of Yerramsetty with stories about Muslim communities elsewhere, telling listeners Epic Estates was secretly planning an “EPIC City” modeled after a controversial Islamic development in Texas.
Binford repeated the claims in later episodes, showed off a binder of “research” and even highlighted a LinkedIn post by an unrelated Epic Estates associate who mentioned praying to Allah. She invited herself to speak at a Nov. 12, 2025, meeting of the Republican Executive Committee of Indian River County, where Chairwoman Lamarre Notargiacomo let her address about 100 members, the suit alleges.
By late November, Binford was linking Epic Estates to an alleged national “electoral college takeover” plot. On Thanksgiving, she aired Episode 57, played Yerramsetty’s commission clip and declared, “I see what’s going on in Dearborn. That’s not a religion. It’s a cult!”
The narrative jumped to social media in January. Realtors Andrew Jansky and Karen E. Gaskill shared posts urging people to flood a Jan. 22, 2026, planning and zoning meeting over the supposed “EPIC Development.” Dennis Michael Lynch, who runs Team DML and has 1.5 million followers, turned the posts into a viral video the same day.
“Of all the thousands of videos that I have created, that the number one video of all time was when I exposed what Dearborn, Michigan looked like,” Lynch said in the clip, according to the complaint. “The same people who are developers in that project and funders of that project are now aiming at Florida, specifically Indian River County … It will slowly but surely create Vero Beach and Indian River County into what looks like Dearborn.”
Lynch urged viewers to attend the meeting, argue zoning issues and threaten primaries against any official who didn’t stop it. The video went viral. A crowd showed up that evening, some carrying homemade flyers naming Yerramsetty as the “front man” for the alleged Islamic scheme.
Hours before the meeting, Epic Estates emailed Lynch denying any link to the Texas project or Sharia law and noting that its investors are mostly Hindu and Christian. Lynch did not take down the post, the suit says. He later tried to reframe his comments as “zoning concerns,” but kept monetizing the original video, according to the filing.
Jansky and Gaskill eventually deleted their posts and issued public apologies. Lynch, Binford, Notargiacomo and the Republican Executive Committee have not retracted their statements, the complaint says.
The lawsuit names 11 defendants: Lynch and his dissolved company Team DML Inc.; Binford and Binford Chronicles LLC; Notargiacomo and the Republican Executive Committee of Indian River County; Jansky; Gaskill; Paul Crespi; Walter McNulty; and Susan Mehiel.
It accuses them of 19 separate defamation counts plus two conspiracy counts, arguing the statements were published with actual malice or reckless disregard for the truth. Yerramsetty, described as a private figure, claims the ordeal caused him insomnia, anxiety and fear for his family’s safety while he was vacationing in India.
Epic Estates says it suffered “special damages” including the lost $30 million buyer, plummeting property values and extra legal and security expenses.
The plaintiffs emphasize they are not affiliated with any mosque, the East Plano Islamic Center or the Texas project once called EPIC City. “Epic Estates, consistent with the American way, is primarily interested in making money through honorable business practices,” the suit states.