NEVADA
The former owner of a Las Vegas strip club plead guilty Thursday in federal court to evading employment taxes,
Court evidence indicated that Frederick John Rizzolo, 58, of Las Vegas, the former owner of The Crazy Horse Too, evaded paying more than $1.7 million in employment taxes that he owed for 2000 through 2002.
Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 15. Under a plea agreement, Rizzolo will be sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $2.6 million to the IRS.
Rizzolo paid The Crazy Horse Too’s floor men, bouncers, bartenders and shift managers in cash, but failed to provide accurate records of these payments to the Club’s bookkeepers.
In 2006, Rizzolo plead guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States.
Following his plea, however, Rizzolo took hid his assets and income to thwart the IRS from collecting the delinquent taxes that he owed, according to the evidence.
For example, Rizzolo directed $900,000 that he received from the sale of the Crazy Horse Too to an offshore bank account in the Cook Islands, officials said.
He also withdrew $50,000 from a bank account, writing a check to a third party, who in turn provided the money back to Rizzolo, thereby avoiding an IRS levy and seizure of the funds.
Additionally, Rizzolo lied to an IRS collections attorney, falsely stating that he had no income or assets and no ability to pay the taxes owed.