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Crazy Horse Too going on auction block July 1
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
After more than four years of failed efforts to sell the Crazy Horse Too, mostly by the government, the once-popular strip club is going on the auction block.
A July 1 public sale has been set for the shuttered club, which sits on prime real estate on Industrial Road near Sahara Avenue in the shadow of the Strip.
Lawyers for the Canico Capital Group, the investment firm that owns the first deed of trust on the property, filed notice of the auction in federal court this week.
The move came as lawyers for Kirk Henry, a Kansas City-area man paralyzed after a 2001 beating at the club, filed court papers seeking to freeze assets of the club's former owner, Rick Rizzolo.
Attorneys Don Campbell and Stan Hunterton contend that Rizzolo has led a life of luxury since being released from prison in April 2008 while ducking his responsibility to pay Henry and his wife, Amy, $10 million in court-ordered restitution. The Henrys have received only $4,000 from Rizzolo, the lawyers reported.
"Plaintiffs spent the last decade suffering as a result of Rick Rizzolo's criminal acts and have received almost nothing in return," the lawyers wrote.
Campbell and Hunterton allege Rizzolo has been running up $900-plus nightclub and restaurant tabs while hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Henrys in offshore trust accounts.
"Rick Rizzolo is not afraid to flaunt his lavish lifestyle either, as he recently appeared in open court wearing a Rolex worth approximately $30,000," they wrote.
The lawyers want U.S. District Judge Philip Pro to bar Rizzolo from spending any of the cash he received from the sale of a Philadelphia strip club in 2008. Rizzolo received $1 million from the sale and could get as much as another $2 million.
The deal prompted federal prosecutors to mount an effort to send Rizzolo back to prison for violating the terms of his supervised release. They contend Rizzolo unlawfully hid from his probation officer a series of lucrative financial transactions involving the sale.
Pro this week put off final arguments on whether to revoke Rizzolo's probation until July 20.
When the government took control of the Crazy Horse Too in 2007, the club was still open and had a value as high as $35 million. But now, it is estimated to be worth $2 million to $3 million.
The U.S. Marshals Service hurt the club's value by letting its liquor and adult entertainment licenses lapse. Under current city zoning laws, the lapse prevents a future adult nightclub on the property.
Rizzolo, long suspected of having ties to organized crime, pleaded guilty to a felony tax charge in June 2006 to end a decade-long FBI racketeering investigation. He agreed to pay several million dollars in fines and taxes along with the $10 million in restitution to the Henrys.
Rizzolo, who served 10 months of a one-year prison sentence, contends that had the government sold the club at the height of its value , there would have been plenty of money available to pay the Henrys and Rizzolo's other debts.
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Lawyer. One of the things that the American Revolution stopped was debtors prison. You can't put a person in jail for not paying his bills.
"Lawyer" made and excellent analogy. Unfortunately, a Mayor and supportive City Council can certainly create new zoning law that will allow a sexually oriented business back on that property. And a new Mayor is usually given at least one pass to do something untoward, and Carolyn may want to do a favor for one of her husband's most prolific former clients, and spearhead council agenda items to rezone and re license the CH2 in order to provide "jobs" for hundreds of single mothers, etc. By doing so, she may inadvertently involve the former owner in the operation if one of his associates such as Doumani or Gentile buy the joint for pennies on the dollar. You are correct that Rick Rizzolo should stay in lockup (not house arrest in Roma Hills) until his ex-wife is either convicted of complicity in his crime, or she repatriates her stolen loot so it can be seized and distributed first to Kirk Henry, and then to other creditors (in that order). This case is languishing because of what I believe are political favors involving the brother of a Federal Judge and his connections to a U.S. Senator who may be influencing A.G. Eric Holder who supervises Nevada's U.S. Attorney. Nobody at the U.S. Courthouse wants to embarrass a Fed. Judge for the actions of his brother.
Unfortunately that property is now worthless. Sexually oriented businesses are disfavored, and by law it cannot be a topless bar again. In that area it's only other viable use is industrial, which could rent out for .50 cents a square foot or a lot less. Don Campbell is the best lawyer in Las Vegas; meaning if he can't find Rizzolo's money nobody can. Send Rizzolo back to prison and release him when the Henry's get their money, and not a minute before. I also would suggest sending him to an extremely rough federal prison, not Camp Cupcake near Victorville. Perhaps let the Feds contract with the State and put him in general population inside Ely. I have a feeling he would pay 10M to get out rather quickly.
"Rizzolo...contends that had the government sold the club at the height of its value fours ago, there would have been plenty of money available to tay the Henrys..."
Yeah, and if Rizzolo's criminal actions hadn't resulted in Mr. Henry becoming paralyzed, there would be no need to pay him the $10 million.
No way this place is worth $2-3 million. The zoning for the strip club is long gone, the liquor license is gone, it's just a crappy building next to the freeway with very little marketability.
Rick and Lisa Rizzolo must have an angel in the U.S. Justice Dept. for this case to drag on for so long. If it were you or me, Mr. Henry, the IRS, City of Las Vegas, and other creditors would have been paid by now. But in the Rizzolo's case, their fortune has so far been untouchable thanks to the brother of a federal court judge who helped them hide it off shore.
MORE INFORMATION:
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/11812
Sell it back to Rizzolo, he ran the best club in Vegas- he came make it big agian and pay off the guy who got hurt by his employees