Lap Dance Dollars
Executives from world's largest publicly traded strip club company allegedly bribed a public auditor to dodge $8 million in sales taxes
“If you’re at a strip club, and the sun is out, you got some problems!” – Chris Rock
In all my decades of covering business blunders, I have never seen an allegation like this. Who’d have thought you could bribe a public tax auditor with lap dances to dodge millions of dollars in sales taxes?
This morning, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a 79-count indictment against five top executives of Houston-based RCI Hospitality Holdings, the world’s largest publicly traded strip club operator.
You may know RCI as Rick’s Cabaret, Tootsie’s Cabaret, XTC Cabaret, Vivid Cabaret, Hoops Cabaret or Club Onyx – and if you do, don’t tell your wife. Despite it’s tacit stamp of approval from Wall Street, this is a company that apparently runs as sleazy as the back-alley industry it has attempted to gentrify.
RCI has been under fire before, but these criminal charges are a first. In 2020, RCI settled a civil action from the Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to disclose to investors some perquisites it gave to top executives. It has also had to settle investor lawsuits for alleged securities violations.
Forget crypto. RCI executives created “Dance Dollars,” an in-house currency that can be exchanged for lap dances.
