UPDATE:
All
Rizzolo Appeals Denied
Obstacles cleared so HENRY
v. RIZZOLO can race forward
INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
AmeriicanMafiia.com
August 13, 2012
LAS VEGAS - On Thursday, August 9, the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco filed a summary ORDER that
threw out the second and third of three unsubstantiated appeals filed by
members of the Rizzolo family.
In all three failed appeals, the petitioners
falsely claimed the United States Federal Court made serious errors, and
should be mandated to reverse its decisions thereby allowing convicted
racketeer
Rick
Rizzolo to not be required to pay his court ordered bills.
On April 3, 2012, the U.S. Ninth Circuit
Court unceremoniously disposed
of the first of the frivolous appeals -- Rick Rizzolo's appeal of an additional
9 month prison sentence and 24 month extension of parole for violating
his conditions of supervised release that required he honor his plea agreement
to pay all court ordered personal obligations including $9 million plus
interest in restitution to beating
victim Kirk Henry, and $1,734,000 million in back taxes skimmed from
the now-defunct Crazy Horse Too strip club in Las Vegas.
The first Appeals Court judgment opened
the door for Henry and the IRS to go after Rick's ex-wife Lisa
Rizzolo and his stepmother Kimtran
Rizzolo for conspiring to evade court ordered payment of Rick's personal
debts, a clear violation of the Nevada Uniform
Fraudulent Transfers Act.
The Internal Revenue Service took no action
when this opportunity arose possibly because the federal court gave the
Henrys first right to collect debts from the Rizzolo's estate.
.
Stan Hunterton
Donald Campbell
But before Kirk and Amy Henry's attorneys
Stan
Hunterton and Donald
Campbell, both former federal prosecutors, could seize the majority
of Rick's ill-gotten assets hidden by Lisa and Kimtran in off shore accounts
and annuities, attorneys for the Rizzolos filed expensive Ninth Circuit
Court appeals to gum up the works. Both appeals filed last May were designed
to stall Henry's ability to collect his court ordered restitution, and
they did for an additional three months, but could have stalled the case
much longer had the Ninth Circuit not acted expeditiously.
.
.
George Kalisis
Herb Sachs
On May 18, 2012, Lisa's attorney George
Kelesis filed her 32
page APPEAL with the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court.
In Lisa's appeal, Kalisis erroneously argued
that Kirk Henry's Nevada Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act case belongs
before the Nevada Supreme Court, not the United States Federal Court (Nevada
Supreme Court Chief Justice Nancy
M. Saitta is a close personal friend of the Rizzolos). That the City
of Las Vegas screwed up the $45 million dollar sale of the Crazy Horse
Too (to a twice
bankrupt straw buyer with no funds). That Henry could have already
been paid had the city not ruined the sale by revoking the club's liquor
license (after dozens of beatings
and robberies). That Lisa was not aware her ex-husband was involved
in criminal activity during their entire marriage. And that Lisa's ex-husband
did not personally break Kirk Henry's neck in 2001, so she and Rick should
not be held personally responsible for Henry's injuries even though they
were married at the time when one of their Crazy Horse Too managers broke
Henry's neck over a disputed bar tab (see: http://www.americanmafia.com/Inside_Vegas/5-28-12_Inside_Vegas.html).
Then, on May 21, 2012, attorney Herb
Sachs representing Rick's stepmother Kimtran filed another appeal with
the Ninth Circuit Court to try to further stall the case (see: http://www.americanmafia.com/Inside_Vegas/5-21-12_Inside_Vegas.html).
Kimtran's appeal was in defiance of Senior
U.S. Judge Philip M. Pro's April
19, 2012, ORDER stating: "IT
IS FURTHER ORDERED that Judgment is hereby entered in favor of Plaintiffs
Kirk Henry and Amy Henry and against Defendants Rick Rizzolo and Kimtran
Rizzolo. The transfers to Bart and Kimtran Rizzolo in the total amount
of $1,052,996.03 were fraudulent pursuant to Nevada Revised Statutes §
112.180(1)(a) and therefore should be avoided. Defendants Rick Rizzolo
and Kimtran Rizzolo shall make the necessary arrangements to transfer funds
in the amount of $1,052,996.03 to Plaintiffs Kirk Henry and Amy Henry within
thirty (30) days."
In Kimtran's appeal, Sachs erroneously
argued; "Kim
requests that the judgment should be amended as against her and should
only be in the amount of money she actually received after the death of
her husband from the assigned periodic payments (from the sale of the Philadelphia
Crazy Horse Too) less amounts previously loaned to Fredrick Rizzolo and
attorney fees paid on his behalf."
I.e.,
according to Sachs, Kirk Henry should be forced to pay Rick Rizzolo's loans
and legal fees (Photo by Mike Christ). However, Sachs
failed to present evidence of any loans Kimtran's late husband Bart
Rizzolo made to his son, or attorney fees Bart paid on his son's behalf,
so the appeals court denied her motion.
In spite of Kimtran's best efforts to obfuscate
the whereabouts of the Philly money, attorneys for Henry located several
accounts where Kimtran secretly stashed the $1,052,996.03, including a
large Transamerica Life Insurance annuity.
During her
October 12, 2011 deposition, Kimtran claimed to not understand the
English language though she moved to the United States from Vietnam over
thirty years ago and owns a local small business. Her answers when asked
the location of the accounts in which she stashed the $1,052,996.03
included; "Don't remember," "What you mean?" "Don't know," "I need
the blanket or something, I'm cold," "I don't understand really your question,"
"I don't have money now," "I spend it," "This is very uncomfortable chair,"
"Explain it," and "I don't understand."
Based on her deposition performance, on
May 22, 2012, Judge Pro issued a WRIT OF EXECUTION ordering the U.S. Marshals
Service to seize the assets of Kimtran including the Transamerica annuity.
The rest of Rick Rizzolo's ill-gotten
fortune was stashed in the Cook Islands in Lisa's name, including an
annuity worth $7.2 million, and $5 million cash Rick and Lisa swindled
from a California bank.
On June 15, United States Marshals in Omaha,
Nebraska served Transamerica a NOTICE OF SEIZURE. Transamerica refused
to turn over the money and responded by filing a lawsuit against Kimtran
and Rick claiming that Judge Pro cited the Nevada Uniform Fraudulent Transfers
law, but failed to cite the federal law that permits such a seizure to
take place.
Transamerica then filed a Motion for Leave
to provide their attorneys time to prepare written briefs describing their
concerns.
On August 8, 2012, U.S. Magistrate Judge
Foley denied Transamerica's motion and advised them that their attorneys
can present oral arguments at a hearing on August 21.
Full
docket text for document 628:
ORDER
denying [626] Motion for Leave to File. Transamerica may address the issues
raised in their proposed Surreply [626-1] at oral argument on this matter,
which is scheduled for August 21, 2012. Signed by Magistrate Judge George
Foley, Jr on 8/08/2012. |
The August 21 hearing
is in preparation for a September 10 hearing to respond to Henry's motion
to hold Kimtran in Civil Contempt for defying Judge Pro's orders if she
has not released the Henry's funds by that time.
Full
docket text for document 607:
ORDER
that Kimtran Rizzolos Motion for a New Trial or in the Alternative, to
Alter or Amend Judgment [587] is hereby DENIED. A hearing on Plaintiffs
Motion for Order to Hold Defendant Kimtran Rizzolo in Civil Contempt [603]
is set for Monday, September 10, 2012, at 3:00 p.m. in Courtroom 7C, in
the United States District Court, District of Nevada, located at 333 S.
Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, Nevada, 89101. Signed by Judge Philip M. Pro
on 6/21/12. |
In the meantime, one of Kimtran's checking
accounts held in Citybank was seized yielding $211,048.89 that was deposited
into Henry's trust account.
If by August 21, Kimtran continues to defy
the court and withhold funds that the court ordered be paid to the Henrys,
despite Herb Sachs' best efforts, the court is expected to confirm to Transamerica's
attorneys per federal statute that the funds held in Kimtran's annuity
were obtained through fraudulent means, and order the funds be released
to Henry. If so, the entire $3 million from the Philly Crazy Horse Too
sale will have been transferred to the Henry's trust account leaving the
Cook Islands accounts as fair game to pay Henry the balance he'll still
be owed that totals around $7 million plus interest. If the Cook Islands
accounts contain less than adequate liquid assets to satisfy debts to Henry
and possibly the IRS, Lisa's real estate in Newport Beach and Las Vegas
may be subject to seizure. Both homes were purchased during the Rizzolo's
marriage, were community property, and are worth millions.
The Cook Islands accounts were established
by "asset protection" attorney John
Dawson, the brother of U.S. Judge Kent Dawson.
In 2006, Judge Dawson issued suspiciously
light sentences to 15 Crazy Horse Too thugs without disclosing that his
brother was making hundreds of thousands of dollars hiding the thug's boss'
ill-gotten loot.
Judge Dawson was appointed for life by
U.S. Senator Harry Reid whose two sons work for the same law firm as John
Dawson. Reid's
business partner Jay Brown was once the corporate agent for Rick Rizzolo,
and in 2006 represented a straw
buyer of the Crazy Horse Too at a Las Vegas City Council hearing.
MORE INFORMATION:
http://www.americanmafia.com/Inside_Vegas/8-6-12_Inside_Vegas.html
http://www.americanmafia.com/Inside_Vegas/4-23-12_Inside_Vegas.html
http://www.americanmafia.com/Inside_Vegas/1-16-12_Inside_Vegas.html
http://www.americanmafia.com/inside_vegas/11-21-11_Inside_Vegas.html
