JUST
IN: Lisa Rizzolo's Amazing Reasons
Why She Should Be Allowed
To Spend
Kirk Henry's Restitution
Money
INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
October 8, 2012
LAS VEGAS - This Wednesday, Oct. 10, a
hearing will be held at 10:30 AM in courtroom 7C at the Lloyd George
Federal Courthouse in Las Vegas to determine whether an injunction should
be placed on Lisa Rizzolo's ability to continue squandering the ill-gotten
funds in her and her ex-husband Rick Rizzolo's off shore bank accounts,
funds that the court may soon be ordered paid to beating victim Kirk Henry.
The Rizzolos were the one time owners of
the infamous
Crazy Horse Too strip clubs in Las Vegas and Philadelphia. The Vegas
club was shut down after
years of beatings and robberies of patrons including the crippling
of Kirk Henry for questioning a padded bar tab.
On March 26, 2013, Lisa will be in United
States Federal Court fighting a Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act lawsuit
intended to force her to repatriate her and and ex-husbands off shore funds
to pay court ordered restitution to Henry, and if anything is left over,
millions in back taxes and penalties.
In order to stall paying Henry the balance
of $10 million in restitution that Rick in 2006 agreed to pay the Henry
family in exchange for a shortened prison sentence along with another $7
million in taxes and penalties, Rick and Lisa got a quick
divorce the court later ruled as "fraudulent,"
and shortly thereafter secretly stashed Rick's fortune in the Cook Islands
in Lisa's name, out of the reach of Henry and the IRS (Henry has first
priority over taxes owed).
Henry, the IRS,
and FBI
had no idea where the Rizzolos hid their loot until Lisa was deposed by
Henry's attorneys in June 2009, and reluctantly revealed the Cook Islands
location. She also revealed that she had not filed taxes on the fortune
for several years; that she had lied on her 2005, 2006, and 2007 income
tax returns; and that the
attorney who hid her and her ex-husband's money was the brother of
a Federal Court Judge who went easy on 15 Crazy Horse Too defendants while
failing to disclose that his attorney brother worked for the Rizzolos.
Highlights from Lisa's deposition:
http://www.stevemiller4lasvegas.com/LisaRizzoloDeposition.html
To further stall paying Henry, both Rick
and Lisa filed expensive appeals with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Both appeals were DENIED,
Rick's on April 3, 2012, and Lisa's on August 9, 2012, which brings us
to last Friday when Lisa's team of attorneys filed a preposterous document
in Federal Court.
Over the past year, Lisa has squandered
$713.481.40 from her overseas accounts, money that may be subject to seizure
after the March 26, 2013 jury decision. Of that, she paid approximately
$123,919.88 in litigation fees and costs to continue gumming up the works,
i.e., keeping the Federal Court at bay.
To answer Lisa's endless barrage of court
filings, Henry has had to draw from his restitution to pay court fees and
other legal expenses, though his attorneys continue working on a contingency
basis.
Upon learning of the Cook Islands withdrawals,
attorneys for Henry filed a PLAINTIFF'S
RENEWED MOTION FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF AGAINST THE DISSIPATION OR TRANSFER
OF ASSETS to stop her withdrawing additional funds without the court's
approval
(emphasis added). That is what this Wednesday's hearing is
mostly about.
In response to Henry's Motion, on Friday,
October 5, Lisa filed DEFENDANT
LISA RIZZOLO’S OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS’ RENEWED MOTION FOR INJUNCTIVE
RELIEF AGAINST THE DISSIPATION OR TRANSFER OF ASSETS, the most blatant
document I have seen in this case so far.
It her Opposition, Lisa says that she's
spending the Cook Islands money to support at least eight Rizzolo family
members living in her multi-million dollar 5,763 square foot Canyon Gate
Golf Course estate.
Lisa's house
Lisa claims that one of her adult daughters
Monica, and her adult son Dominic are almost indigent, and without her
help could become homeless along with Monica's four children. She also
claims that Monica's ex-husband Thomas Pendelton cannot afford to visit
his children, so she regularly pays for him to fly from his home in Washington
to the Rizzolo's Newport Beach vacation home for visitations.
In her OPPOSITION, Lisa neglects to mention
that Monica and ex-husband Thomas are the stars of the reality TV program
Tattoo
Highway on A&E, or where the money went they derived
from the successful program and the notoriety it brought to the Pendelton's
mobile tattoo business.
As described by A&E: "The artist
that electrified audiences in A&E's hit series Inked
is in a new tattoo series that takes us beyond the shop. Tattoo Highway™
follows artist Thomas Pendelton as he travels the country in a mobile tattoo
parlor of his own design, a converted 1970s Silver Eagle Tour Bus. On the
outside, it's a moving metal canvas of Thomas' art; on the inside, it's
a fully functional tattoo parlor. Whether he's tattooing a Crown Dancer
for an Apache Elder in New Mexico or a bat-winged heart on a mortician's
chest in Sacramento, Thomas is on the road searching for the people and
the stories that never made it to a tattoo shop. With his wife and a slew
of artists in tow, Thomas hit the road to find the stories that need to
be told and tattooed."
Monica with pink cap, Thomas in center
In her OPPOSITION, Lisa also neglects to
mention that her 30 year old son Dominic was twice arrested for Battery
With Use Of A Deadly Weapon. Her legal team conspicuously omits mentioning
the tens of thousands of dollars Lisa paid to criminal defense attorneys
in Nevada and Florida to keep her son out of prison -- money that rightfully
belonged to the Henrys.
And she still claims she's not "wasting"
the money stashed in the Cook Islands!
.
Dominic Rizzolo's mug shots, 2009 and 2012
INFORMATION ON DOMINIC RIZZOLO:
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/two-arrested-connection-strip-mall-casino-beating/nPB6W/
http://www.lvrj.com/blogs/smith/ON_THE_BOULEVARD_Dominic_Rizzolo_arrested_again.html
http://www.americanmafia.com/inside_vegas/6-21-10_Inside_Vegas.html
Lisa claims that the Cook Island funds
that may soon be seized to pay Henry are being legitimately spent supporting
this motley crew.
Also, not mentioned in Lisa's Opposition
is the fact that Henry is asking that any further withdrawals be approved
by the court, not stopped altogether.
Below are select excerpts from Lisa's amazing
OPPOSITION, along with my highly qualified comments contained parenthetically
in heliotrope
colored bold font.
I pray that Lisa's attorneys, Messrs. Balus,
Cook, and Kelesis, Esq., are not offended by me adding my meticulously
researched personal opinions to their costly work product, but I couldn't
resist because the esteemed attorneys presented something to the U.S. Federal
Court that reads more like the script from Keeping Up With The Kardashians,
than an official Opposition to a Plaintiff's Motion.
Case
2:08-cv-00635-PMP-GWF Document 649 Filed 10/05/12 Page 1 of 15
Defendant
Lisa Rizzolo has steadfastly maintained that the divorce and the attendant
divorce decree was not “fraudulent” and was in accordance with considerations
allowed by Nevada state law regarding the division of marital property
(The
court ruled the divorce was fraudulent on April 19, 2012. see: http://www.stevemiller4lasvegas.com/RizzoloLisaLosesMotion-04-19-12.pdf).
In
reviewing Plaintiffs’ renewed motion for injunctive relief (#635), the
underlying premise of the same is that the Rizzolo’s divorce was a “fraudulent
divorce” and that Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm if the Court
does not issue an injunction freezing the entire funds in the Cook Islands
account. Defendants disagree. Ms. Rizzolo’s half of the community property
was, and is, her property, during marriage and after divorce, and free
from Rick Rizzolo’s debts (Again, no one
has asked that the entire funds be frozen. Only that Lisa must gain the
court's approval to make additional withdrawals).
Defendant,
Lisa Rizzolo did Not Financially Waste Any Monies From the Cook Islands
Account. In their renewed motion, Plaintiffs argue that “Ms. Rizzolo’s
financial waste has resulted in irreparable harm to Plaintiffs which
warrants the immediate entry of an injunction barring any further transfer
or dissipation of the remaining money in the Cook Islands account.” Plaintiffs’
Renewed Motion (#635), p. 3. Simply put, Plaintiffs are wrong. Ms. Rizzolo
has used said funds to support herself, her children and grandchildren,
she has not financially wasted any funds from the Cook Island account (Are
you serious? Read on...).
After
her divorce, Ms. Rizzolo has utilized the monies in the Cook Islands account
for her living expenses. It was her expectation that upon her death that
her assets would go to her children and grandchildren as part of her estate
plan. Like many American families, Ms. Rizzolo’s family has been hit hard
by the recent economic recession. Over the last year, her daughters and
their families have had to move in with Ms. Rizzolo and she has been supporting
them. Clearly, this has affected her finances but it certainly does not
constitute “waste” (And
Santa Claus has a bright red beard...).
Ms.
Rizzolo is the mother of three grown children; Monica, Dominic (She
still claims him!) and Leslie. Monica
is married to Thomas Pendleton and has four children; Emma and Joey (twin
girls) who are 6 years old, Thomas (the only boy) who is 5 years old, and
Payton who is 3 years old.
Monica
and Thomas were originally living in Washington with their four children
until approximately February, 2011 when Monica took the children with her
to Nevada for a visit to attend a baby shower. She and the children stayed
with Ms. Rizzolo. After a few weeks, Monica voiced that she and Thomas
had been having marital problems and that she wanted to stay with Ms. Rizzolo
while she got her life together and tried to figure out where her relationship
with Thomas stood. Sometime in July 2011, Monica began to talk seriously
about getting divorced. At this point, she and Thomas stopped speaking
altogether and did not speak for many months. Ms. Rizzolo was put in a
position to facilitate visitation between Thomas and the children and as
such, had to make many trips to her home in California with the children
to meet Thomas who flew in from Washington so that the children could have
contact with both parents. Ms. Rizzolo facilitated these visitations and
paid all travel expenses with the children. In addition, she paid Thomas’
travel expenses to and from Washington which included round trip airline
tickets. (Why? Thomas is a grown
man with a successful business.)
Without
Ms. Rizzolo’s financial assistance and generosity of time spent arranging
the details of these visits, the children would not have been able to see
their father at all during this time. (Huh!)
Things
continued on in this manner until April, 2012 when Thomas decided he had
tried hard enough and had waited long enough for his relationship with
Monica to mend. Thomas was going to start divorce proceedings against Monica.
Monica had a change of heart at this time and began trying to rekindle
their relationship in earnest. Since April, 2012, Monica and Thomas have
managed to get back together and work through their differences enough
that Monica will be moving back to Washington with the children in approximately
three to four weeks.
Ms.
Rizzolo fully supported Monica and her children during the entire 19 months
she has been in Nevada to include, but not limited to, their food, clothing,
medical insurance, doctor bills, credit card payments, auto insurance and
some expenses to assist Thomas while he was alone trying to make ends meet
up in Washington without his wife’s assistance. This figure is aproximately(sp)
$28,385.15. Monica has not worked and has
not contributed anything to her living expenses for either herself or her
children during the time she has stayed with her mother.
(Here
comes the zinger!)
In
addition to having her daughter Monica and her four grandchildren living
with her since February, 2012, Ms. Rizzolo has also had her son, Dominic
living with her since August, 2011. Dominic is unmarried and was living
out of state when he came home for a visit in August, 2011 and never left.
He didn’t give an explanation as to why he came home in the first place
(He
was arrested in Florida for bashing a man's head in with a hammer? The
Valusia County, Florida DA couldn't locate the victim to testify, and dropped
the highly publicized case, so Dominic was free to return to LV to escape
a small town's scrutiny), however, in
December, 2011, he admitted to his mother that he had nowhere else to turn
and nowhere to go. He stated that he had messed up his life and he needed
her help (I wish him luck, but why should
Kirk and Amy Henry be saddled with paying for Dominic's defense and rehabilitation?
They have their own kids to put through college).
As
his mother, Ms. Rizzolo felt she had no choice but to help her son in his
time of need. He is not working at this time and has no plans to move out
as of this date. Ms. Rizzolo has fully supported him during the entire
14 months Dominic has lived with her to include, but not limited to, food,
clothing, medical insurance, doctor bills, hospital bills, credit card
payments, and auto insurance to the tune of approximately $11,727.69.
Leslie
is Ms. Rizzolo’s youngest child and has lived with her since she was born.
She has a boyfriend named David Bishop (See
David Bishop and Rick Rizzolo partying in a $3,000 per night booth at the
Hard Rock: http://www.americanmafia.com/inside_vegas/7-14-08_Inside_Vegas.html)and
in August, 2012 moved out with him. Leslie is the only child of Ms. Rizzolo
who is working both now and in the past and she is also the only child
who has ever tried to contribute any money to assist her mother in supporting
everyone (I'm sure the Henrys appreciate
that...). Leslie’s paycheck is set up
to be automatically deposited in Ms. Rizzolo’s bank account when she gets
paid. While living with her mother, Leslie was fully supported by Ms. Rizzolo
as any minor child should be to include, but not limited to, food, clothing,
doctor bills, hospital bills, credit card payments, and auto insurance
for an approximate total of $15,308.56. This support continued into her
adult years when she left for college through and until she moved back
in upon her return. When she moves out with her boyfriend in a few weeks,
Ms. Rizzolo will continue to provide assistance with some of Leslie’s expenses
until she is fully on her feet and able to support herself
(At the Henry's expense).
Further,
Ms. Rizzolo has had to maintain her real property both in Nevada and California
in order to preserve them. The (multi-million
dollar) property
in California has had some problems this past year to include being forced
by the City of Newport Beach to pay for the relocation of power lines from
above-ground electrical poles to underground trenches; the replacement
of the heating system; and the replacement of the aged and faltering appliances
in the kitchen (So very sad...).
Adding these extra unexpected expenses on top of regular maintenance, taxes,
insurance and general cost of running the household comes to approximately
$68,526.01 that Ms. Rizzolo has had to expend to keep the California property
running in the past year (Maybe she should
sell it! Ocean front real-estate in that area is almost recession proof).
Ms.
Rizzolo also maintains her residence here in Nevada. The Nevada property
is her main residence and she has had to expend approximately $66,924.08
for its upkeep, utilities, security, taxes, insurance and the general cost
of running a household that, at times, contained eight people living in
it at once. The amount of money Ms. Rizzolo has expended just to keep everyone
fed (Lobster and filet mignon at Kirk Henry's
expense?) over the last year comes to
approximately $48,000.00 and that estimate is on the low side.
During
the past year, Ms. Rizzolo has not only supported herself, her three children
and her four grandchildren but has also been dealing with some rather serious
health conditions as well. On or about June 29, 2011, Ms. Rizzolo had surgery
to treat a deviated septum and removal of a polyp from the right maxillary
region of her sinus cavity. During and after this time in May and also
in June, Ms. Rizzolo had other various tests done, including an abdominal
ultrasound. The results of the abdominal ultrasound came back that there
was a cancerous tumor in her left kidney. She saw her urologist in July
who advised her that the treatment for this kind of kidney cancer was to
remove the entire kidney. He subsequently set up surgery to remove her
kidney and then conducted the operation on August 17, 2011.
She
is still under the care of her urologist to monitor her post-operatively.
Both as a precaution due to her family history and as a follow up to make
sure there wasn’t any more cancer lurking anywhere else, Ms. Rizzolo had
a battery of tests done. Those tests included, but were not limited to,
a colonoscopy, a camera endoscopy, regular endoscopy, CT scan and MRI scan.
The gastrointestinal testing revealed that Ms. Rizzolo was also suffering
from ulcerative colitis, a stomach ulcer and an unusually dilated duct
in her pancreas. She is currently being treated for those conditions
with her gastroenterologist and the treatment and prognosis are not yet
known. The CT scan and/or MRI she had done during that time revealed something
else altogether. She was diagnosed with a cyst of unknown type and origin
on her left lung that is currently concerning her physicians. She has been
undergoing examination and treatment for that cyst and will continue to
do so as soon as she recovers from her recent surgery on her shoulder to
repair a torn rotator cuff. Said surgery took place on October 6, 2011.
She has fully recovered from her shoulder surgery without incident. Her
treatment regarding the lung cyst, however, is currently ongoing and her
prognosis is not yet known. She and her doctors will continue to monitor
the cyst for any changes that might require treatment.
Finally,
in addition to the above diagnoses, diseases and conditions, she is also
under treatment for a hypothyroid condition and requires medication be
taken on a daily basis to manage its symptoms. At present, she is tolerating
both the treatment and condition of her thyroid well.
Ms.
Rizzolo’s unexpected medical expenses for the last year are understandably
extensive and include, but are not limited to, insurance premium, medical
bills after insurance has been billed, bills for her eye doctor, shoulder
surgery, gastroenterologist, nephrologist, and various hospital bills.
The total that Ms. Rizzolo has had to pay out-of-pocket for the last twelve
months is approximately $41,750.09 (Kirk
Henry is confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life thanks to the
actions of one of Rick and Lisa’s topless bar managers).
Ms.
Rizzolo also had unexpected expenses in the last year when it comes to
her automobile. She by no means drives a fancy car. In fact, she drives
a five year old Range Rover that needs maintenance just like any other
five year old car would. She has had the car in the shop twice in the past
year to the tune of approximately $4,480.72. Combine those repair costs
with the cost of repair on her daughter’s car, fuel, upkeep, insurance
and DMV costs, among other things, and the grand total comes to approximately
$14,057.03 (I'm speechless...).
Ms.
Rizzolo spent the remainder of the money over the past year on general
expenses to include, but not limited to, cell phones, rental cars, hotel
rooms (Where and for whom?),
general travel expenses when she was in Washington, clothing for her four
growing grandchildren, clothing for four adults (What!),
general personal incidentals, cash withdrawals, assistance in cleaning
both homes (Couldn't her adult kids clean
up after themselves?), various miscellaneous
personal expenses, holiday expenses (Holiday
expenses?), gifts for family and friends
(Kirk
Henry can't even pay his medical bills, and she's buying gifts for family
and friends!), etc. in the approximate
amount of $377,340.21 (Are you guys kidding?).
In
addition, Ms. Rizzolo has incurred substantial attorneys fees and costs
related to this litigation. Over the past year, she has paid approximately
$123,919.88 just in litigation fees and costs in this matter (From
Kirk Henry's restitution?).
Ms.
Rizzolo recognizes that in its orders (#536, #582), the Court has determined
under the summary judgment standard, a reasonable jury could find the Rizzolo’s
divorce constituted a fraudulent transfer (No
S - - T!).
Plaintiffs
Will Not Likely Suffer Irreparable Harm If Injunctive Relief Is Not Granted
(If
Injunctive Relief is not granted, nothing will be left to pay Henry or
the IRS!).
In
this litigation, Plaintiffs have been operating under the mistaken belief
that if they prevailed on their NUFTA claim (The
Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act civil trial is set in Federal Court for
March 26, 2013), that all the community
property awarded to Ms. Rizzolo could be avoided as a fraudulent transfer.
Simply put, Plaintiffs are wrong. Assuming arguendo, a Nevada divorce decree
can be collaterally attacked by a creditor, then the award of community
property under the divorce decree is only avoidable to the extent that
the value of the community property awarded to Ms. Rizzolo exceeded the
value of the property awarded to the debtor, Rick Rizzolo (She
still argues that the U.S. Department of Justice should have operated the
Vegas topless bar to preserve its highly questionable value though that
notion has been tossed out by two U.S. Federal Courts).
In
their renewed motion, Plaintiffs erroneously argue that “Ms. Rizzolo is
on pace to dissipate the disputed funds to such an extent that Plaintiffs’
eventual recovery in this proceeding will be substantially diminished.”
Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion (#635, p. 3). Simply put, Plaintiffs are wrong.
Plaintiffs have failed to establish that they are even entitled to any
portion of the funds in the Cook Islands accounts let alone the entire
amount. In fact, Plaintiffs have presented no evidence regarding value
of any of the property (see: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2007/aug/19/crazy-horse-too-owners-millions-eluding-the-feds/).
Plaintiffs
are purposely seeking to freeze the entire Cook Island account so as to
leave Ms. Rizzolo without any funds to live on, maintain her real and personal
property and even to pay her attorney’s fees and costs to defend this litigation
(She fails to mention that Henry's Motion
stipulates that the court would oversee any additional withdrawals -- not
freeze the "entire" account).
If
the Court were to freeze the entire Cook Islands account, Ms. Rizzolo would
be in jeopardy of losing everything as she would not have funds to pay
for her monthly expenses and maintenance of her property as well as paying
for her attorney’s fees and costs (and
her kids might have to get jobs, and her attorneys lose their biggest cash
cow).
Conclusion.
For
the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs’ renewed motion for injunctive relief
against the dissipation or transfer of assets should be denied.
DATED
this 5th day of October, 2012.
BAILUS
COOK & KELESIS, LTD.
MARK
B. BAILUS, ESQ.
GEORGE
P. KELESIS, ESQ.
Then there's this:
The Offering
The exclusive listing broker Cushman & Wakefield|Commerce is pleased
to present the opportunity to acquire the Former Crazy Horse Too Gentlemen’s
Club & Industrial Property located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The property
is the recent benefactor of a City of Las Vegas Ordinance which revives
the potential to have adult use, tavern, or both uses at the property.
Historically the property enjoyed a reputation of one of the top clubs
in Las Vegas and with a location less than ½ mile from the Strip
is one of the most accessible adult-use properties to the Resort Corridor.
The property is being offered on an as-is basis and the asking price
is adjusted to account for the as-is sale, existing deferred maintenance/repairs,
closing on the transaction without full license approval, and downtime
to commence operations. The property is being sold on an all-cash basis
and interested parties shall be required to provide full financial qualifications
with proof of funds in conjunction with their offer.
Call for Offers deadline: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 5:00pm PDT
FULL LISITNG: http://www.comre.com/crazyhorse/index.html |
INFORMATION on the seller of the property:
http://www.americanmafia.com/Inside_Vegas/7-4-11_Inside_Vegas.html
Sources tell INSIDE VEGAS that the Las
Vegas Metropolitan Police Special Investigations Unit is watching to see
if someone associated with the Rizzolos will purchase the property.
The name Doumani,
or anyone represented by attorney
Jay Brown, have been mentioned.
Since Kirk Henry's neck was broken in 2001,
close to a million dollars has been paid to attorneys to keep Henry from
receiving his court ordered restitution. In the meantime, the United States
Federal Court system and the IRS have been made to look impotent.
This Wednesday's hearing is expected to
begin the conclusion to one of the most drawn out legal battles in the
history of America. INSIDE VEGAS will provide AmericanMafia.com readers
a complete update on Monday, October 22.
MORE INFORMATION: http://www.lvrj.com/news/lawyer-wants-prosecutors-to-follow-money-not-rizzolo-name-172793441.html
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