Frederick John Rizzolo, of Las Vegas, NV, pled guilty in U.S. District Court in Nevada to the charge of evading employment tax.
Rizzolo was the former owner of a strip club named, “The Crazy Horse Too” and admitted in court that he evaded paying more than $1.7 million in employment taxes from 2000-2002. Floormen, bouncers, bartenders and shift managers were paid in cash, and Rizzolo failed to provide accurate records to his bookkeepers thereby causing false employment tax returns to be filed with the IRS.
Although Rizzolo pleaded guilty in 2006 to conspiring to defraud the United States, he further attempted to hide assets from the sale of his club by directing the proceeds of $900,000 to be deposited in an off-shore bank in the Cook Islands. In addition, he withdrew $50,000, writing a check to a third party who provided the money back to Rizzolo. When questioned by an IRS collections attorney, Rizzolo falsely stated he had no income or assets to pay the taxes he owed.
If the court accepts the plea agreement on September 15th, Rizzolo will be sentenced to 24 months in prison and ordered to pay $2,637,290 to the IRS in restitution.
