That the current official terms say what he has been told they say, that he can meet the requirements of the EB-1 or EB-2 classification through which successful applicants proceed, and that he is admissible. Payment establishes none of those three things.
Three gates, only one of which involves money
The framework as published moves through a nonrefundable processing fee, vetting, a gift to the U.S. government after successful vetting, and then progression through an existing immigrant classification subject to its own rules. The gate most likely to stop Thaddeus is the last one, and it is the one his acquaintance never mentioned.
EB-1 and EB-2 carry substantive requirements about the applicant's own qualifications and circumstances, and an owner of three guest lodges should be told plainly, before spending anything, whether a professional assessment thinks he reaches either. Admissibility is examined separately and can be affected by matters entirely unrelated to business or money. Visa availability affects when, not whether.
Two documents make the rest of the analysis possible: a dated record of the official page, and a written assessment of the underlying classification.