Don't Mess with the IRS!
INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
February 14, 2005
Vinnie Faraci deserts Crazy Horse Too
Tony Sgro, Vinnie Faraci, and Bart
Rizzolo talk
during the FBI raid of the Crazy
Horse Too on
Feb. 21, 2003
(AmericanMafia.com photo
by Mike Christ)
Hey Steve:
I just heard that Vinny (sp) walked into Rick's office Thursday to give
him 2 weeks notice that he was quitting and going to work at Caesars Palace
in a new club called PURE.
Rick didn't take it very well and told him to leave then. I've always thought
that Vinny was Rick's "buffer" for the cash that was likely skimmed from
the club. Vinny always collected all of the "tip outs" or "house fees"
from the entertainers and split them with the floor men. I've always suspected
that only a small part of this money was reported and that Vinny funneled
a sizeable (sp) chunk of it to Rick. "House
Fees" or revenue earned from dancers is a fundamental part of the "strip
club formula" for profitability and normally goes to the house. I therefore
surmised that Rick's policy of giving it all (at least 15% of all the dancer's
earnings) to his floormen (sp) was not just a grand act of generosity.
An educated guess of this revenue would be somewhere between $30,000 -
$45,000 PER DAY. Many girls that have worked at the Crazyhorse (sp) tell
me that they each gave Vinny about $150 per night. The Crazyhorse averages
from 200 - 300 girls per day...do the math. That doesn't include the tips
that are turned over from guests and other sources. I have heard that the
10 - 12 floormen at the Crazyhorse earn an average of $1000 per day. I
wonder where the rest of it went. And is the Nev. Gaming Commission going
to approve Vinny to work in a casino? Maybe we'll hear a Paul Harvey like
"and now you know the rest of the story" soon.
Name withheld
(And they said the mob no longer runs Vegas?)
An insider at the Crazy Horse let INSIDE VEGAS be the first to know
that Vinnie
Faraci and his sister Phyllis were jumping ship. Vinnie was the undisputed
muscle in the club along with Phyllis who managed the VIP room -- a room
where alleged credit
card rip off's regularly occur. But most interesting is the insider's
description of an alleged skim operation that may have gone undetected
for almost twenty years.
If my information is correct, the IRS will have a heyday gathering up
the operatives and proving their case during the upcoming trials of those
who have apparently been operating under the protective umbrella of a few
local politicians,
a couple of crooked judges, the DA,
and a
small band of corrupted cops whose names are sure to surface within
the next several months. These revelations are expected to come from ex-loyalists
who are reportedly busy making deals with the feds to try to save their
own necks.
In the meantime, purported club owner Rick Rizzolo is still the proud
holder of a million dollar line of credit at Caesars Palace, and is often
seen losing hundreds of thousands in cash per night.
This obviously explains why Caesars Palace has for years allowed Rizzolo
to use their logos, fonts, and proprietary names without protest. This
is the same Caesars Palace that sued a humble beauty shop called “Scissors
Palace” for copyright infringement, but lets a sleazy strip joint in a
converted warehouse pretend to be an extension of their classy digs.
Names copied from the world renown casino include “Circus Maximus,”
the name of Caesar's legendary main showroom: “Cleopatra’s Lounge,”
taken from Caesars Palace's famous "Cleopatra's Barge;" and
“Emperor’s Room,” all located inside the blood soaked topless bar.
How much was gambled to warrant the use of these logos?
Photos from Crazy Horse Too website
The official logo
of Caesars Palace
Note the similarity?
This could only happen in Vegas!
****
Its my party, I can cry if I want to...
Newly elected Councilwoman Lois
Tarkanian comforts recalled
Janet Moncrief
(Las Vegas Review-Journal
photo by K.M. Cannon)
Mike
McDonald spent his two LV City Council terms doing favors for members
of organized crime and became the subject
of a federal political corruption investigation. Nonetheless, he had a
million dollar war chest and was a sure bet to be elected to a third term.
Because of this, extraordinary measures were taken to remove him from public
office.
Former Stratosphere owner Bob Stupak enlisted nurse Janet
Moncrief to run against McDonald, and asked me to help her win. Stupak
secretly poured over a hundred thousand dollars into her campaign to pay
for a "stalking horse" candidate to tell of McDonald's mob connections,
along with funding the printing and mailing of misleading mail pieces falsely
sent in McDonald's name.
I was hired to research and author the factual
materials used by Peter "Chris" Christoff that exposed McDonald's dark
side, something the nurse did not want credit for. These mailers
were sent at Moncrief - Stupak's expense but were not reported on her campaign
contribution forms.
I did not knowingly participate in the misleading
mailers sent in McDonald's name. When I objected to the falsely addressed
mailers, Janet told me, "Don't worry, no one will know we sent them because
we're using first class mail with no bulk mail number that can be traced
back to my campaign." I told her she was breaking the law. She discounted
my advice and removed me from her inner circle. That's when I should've
quit, but I still wanted to see the mob out of city hall, so I reluctantly
stuck with her campaign until the bitter end.
After Janet was elected she immediately hired the Crazy Horse Too's
PR man, Tom
Letizia, as her "transition team leader," a job she had promised me.
Then she accepted a fund raiser from Billy Walters, a man three times indicted
for money laundering.
Janet and I agreed at the outset that she would not associate with such
persons. When she broke our agreement saying “I guess there were
rumors I was going to hire Steve Miller for one of my positions. I'm not
going to hire Steve Miller, I
don't even know him,” Mr. Christoff and I decided to turn state's evidence
and confirm the accusations McDonald’s manager had made in his complaint
to the Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s office.
With our statements, Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller realized
the severity of Moncrief’s legal transgressions, and asked Nevada Attorney
General Brian Sandoval to conduct a criminal investigation. The rest is
history.
Moncrief was recalled. This week, Moncrief’s criminal defense attorney
and the state Attorney General reportedly struck a deal.
She is to plead guilty to several civil violations and pay a $5,000 fine.
If she does so, it will also save me the trouble of being the key witness
at her trial, something I was not looking forward too because I believe
she’s suffered enough humiliation for her misdeeds.
If Mr. Christoff, California printer
JC Evans, and I testified, Ms. Moncrief would certainly be convicted of
one or more felonies and would lose her Registered Nurse's credentials,
something neither Mr. Christoff nor I want, especially during a nurse's
shortage. Now we thankfully have Lois Tarkanian representing Ward One,
and Janet can go back to being a mentor to new nurses.
Though I'm embarrassed for having lied to reporters about my participation
in Moncrief's campaign, the end result certainly justified the means!
As long as Moncrief's misleading techniques are never used again, the result
of our efforts will make this city a better place.
****
Treasures smears egg on the face of
the LV City Council and their handlers
Treasures during better days
Closed for almost a year because of suspect action by the City, the
fifty-million-dollar Treasures Gentleman's Club has managed to convince
a District Court judge that their closure was unfounded and illegal. Not
mentioned during the court hearing, but in the back of everyone's mind,
was that the club was closed for political reasons -- as a favor to former
criminal defense clients of Mayor Oscar Goodman who are now associated
with the Crazy Horse Too which is just down the street.
After the Mayor twice refused to bring the crime laden Crazy Horse Too
up on a license revocation action, but jumped at the chance to close its
competition, a Councilman now wants a "simple procedure" available to revoke
Treasure's license "if criminal activity arises."
According to the Las
Vegas Review-Journal, Councilman Gary Reese "would like the ability,
if the council does grant a license to Treasures, to have a simple procedure
for revocation if additional criminal activity arises in the future. 'I
would want that type of assurance,' Reese said."
HELLO?
Councilman Reese, there have been MURDERS, ROBBERIES, and MAYHEM going
on for a long time at the Crazy Horse, and you've NEVER requested a "simple
procedure" be implemented to close THEM down!
Councilman Reese’s remarks help me make my point that Sin City's protection
racket is alive and well.
The license hearing for Treasures is scheduled for Wednesday, February
16. I suggest their attorneys have a ready copy of Dateline NBC's
August 8, 2004 segment
about violence at the Crazy Horse to show to the Council in the event they
meet political opposition.
I also suggest that, this time, all the families of the hundreds of
displaced Treasures employees pack the Council chambers to let those on
the dais know they will no longer tolerate outrageous under
the table favors.
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