The sudden closure of the Warrior Fitness gym in Santa Clarita in February has caused controversy in the community amid allegations of fraud.

Founded in 2010, Warrior Fitness was inspired by Saugus resident and owner Dr. Tchicaya Missamou, originally from the Republic of the Congo, who served in the U.S. Marines.

On Feb. 23, 2019, a video was posted to the Warrior Fitness Facebook page stating that Warrior Fitness was not going anywhere despite rumors, though the building housing the gym would be sold soon.

“The Warriors camp will start its franchise in the very near future,” Missamou said in the video. “Our goal is to open multiple locations worldwide, starting in California first.”

On March 24, 2019, another video — this time of a spin class at the gym — was posted to the Warrior Fitness Facebook page with the caption, “The last ride.”

The Warrior Fitness building on 21515 Centre Pointe Parkway was foreclosed upon, and
Mission Valley Bank held the title until the foreclosure took place, according to bank officials.

Mission Valley Bank officials declined to comment further.

End of the Line 

Vanessa Gonzalez, a former employee of Warrior Fitness, said she was saddened but ultimately unsurprised by the news that the business would be closing. As a part of her administrative duties, she had a unique view into the inner workings of the business.

Gonzalez worked at Warrior Fitness for about five to six years, and by her reckoning, issues started coming to a head slowly over the last year.

“He did a lot of good things, like when my bank account was overdrawn and he gave me an advance, or when I fought with my husband, he let me stay the night at the gym,” Gonzalez said. “I don’t know if the success went to (his) head, but something just totally changed in him.”

It was at this point that paydays allegedly started coming in late, such as arriving by Wednesday when they were due the Friday before. When questioned by employees, Missamou reportedly blamed the billing company for the delay.

He would allegedly say that everything was fine, denying any negative rumors and stating that it was just the “haters” that were spreading these claims, according to Gonzalez.

Once Gonzalez knew the business would indeed be closing, she was presented with something else that she said made her very uncomfortable.

“I left a month before the closure. I was the one that handled all the memberships, and even though he knew we were closing, he would tell me to charge the memberships,” Gonzalez said. “I consider all these people my friends and I wasn’t going to do that.”

Gonzalez left after helping organize the payroll around business tax time; however, it is unknown if all the money that should have been paid out was distributed.

Even after her departure, Gonzalez said she would receive updates on the situation at Warrior Fitness because she was still receiving notifications on memberships.

“I was the one that set up his point of sale, so everything would go to my email,” Gonzalez said. “I would get email notifications of membership deposits up until the week before he closed.”

According to billing records, Missamou allegedly informed staff that he did not have money to pay them during a time period that he reportedly collected over $19,000.

Gonzalez informed KHTS that this money only included funds processed through the billing company, and did not reflect when clients would physically swipe their cards to pay.

Many of the contractors that worked on the renovations to the gym about one year ago also were allegedly never paid, according to Gonzalez, and she still receives emails in her Warrior Fitness account from the company that set up the phone system.

“If he could get away with not paying for it, he wouldn’t,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez and her family say they have been personally affected by the fallout of not being paid.

Her stepfather was one of the contractors that worked on the renovations for the building, according to Gonzalez. He says he has been partially paid for his work, but only after Gonzalez says she threatened to quit if Missamou did not honor his debts.

“I stuck around for over a year of being paid late, but I believed in him,” she said.

While Gonzalez did not have the exact numbers available to her at the time of her interview with KHTS, she noted that the amount of money Warrior Fitness allegedly owes is staggering.

“If I sat down and listed what we owed to contractors, trainers… I know on the facility he owes a couple thousand, and the staff probably wasn’t paid before the closing,” Gonzalez said. “He owes a lot.”

Gonzalez remembers when police reportedly came to the business on behalf of Mission Valley Bank, searching through cash registers. Apparently, the mortgage on the building had not been paid for some time, according to Gonzalez.

Survival of the Fittest 

At the time of the closure, Warrior Fitness clients were reportedly offered a month of classes free “with no strings attached,” along with a reduced rate after that one month trial at Survival of the Fittest Health and Wellness, another gym located in Valencia, according to Owner James O’Rourke.

Additionally, clients who had paid for a year in advance at Warrior Fitness would have their memberships honored for the remainder of the period, O’Rourke said.

According to O’Rourke, the experience has been a mixed blessing.

“I found out a week and a half before the official closing, and I was asked if (Survival of the Fittest) could take the clients for anyone that was looking for a new home so that they would have somewhere to go,” O’Rourke said. “One of my trainers used to work there, and they reached out to see if we would be interested and made accommodations.”

O’Rourke was approached by “hundreds” of reportedly disgruntled former clients for what they were owed.

“I literally fielded a few hundred phone calls in that first week alone,” O’Rourke said. “When he initially made this deal, I did not know about everything else going on behind the scenes.”

When O’Rourke publically shared how he felt about Missamou and the alleged situation, Missamou reportedly responded by calling him a “hater,” a typical label for anyone who disagreed with him, according to O’Rourke.

“There was a lot of good that came along with him, but unfortunately he owes a lot of people money, and he took off,” said O’Rourke. “I’ve heard a lot of stories from clients.”

Despite the controversy surrounding Warrior Fitness, O’Rourke said he is thankful and filled with admiration and affection for the Warrior clients that have joined his business.

A source familiar with Missamou who asked to remain anonymous expressed his support of the former gym owner, although it was unclear at the time of the interview if he was aware of the allegations against Missamou.

The source indicated his belief that Missmou “bit off more than he could chew,” and overextended his financials in the purchase and renovation of the most recent Warrior Fitness location on Centre Pointe Parkway in Santa Clarita.

The source stated that he believed Missamou did everything he could to continue operating Warrior Fitness and “had a great following,” but the competition from other small gyms in the Santa Clarita Valley, along with other issues, spelled out the end for the business.

Centre Pointe

The new building was bought in December 2016 for $3.2 million, according to county public record.

In addition to that cost, Missamou reportedly took out a small business loan to pay for improvements and reconstruction costing approximately $600,000, according to the anonymous source.

While these costs were not the final nail in the coffin for Warrior Fitness, the source claims that they certainly contributed to the situation, and that Missamou closed down the other gym while the new location was undergoing renovation.

The source stated that since the closure he has joined a more traditional gym, but that he greatly misses the community spirit at Warrior Fitness.

Multiple attempts by KHTS to contact Missamou for comment were not returned.

Ed. Note: Michael Brown and Britney Navarro contributed to this report.

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.