HENRY vs.
RIZZOLO Changes Faces
Federal Court finally takes
action to collect millions
stashed in hidden accounts
by Rizzolo matriarchs
INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
September 24, 2012
LAS VEGAS - Attention is now turning to
Lisa Rizzolo, ex-wife of racketeer and former Crazy Horse Too strip club
owner Rick Rizzolo, and his stepmother Kimtran.
Since his release from prison, Rick left
Lisa and Kimtran holding the bag caring for his ill-gotten
fortune either hidden off shore or in secret annuities in the U.S,
while he parties like a rock star.
The question now is, will Lisa and Kimtran
Rizzolo end up paying for Rick's actions through fines or possible jail
time?
For more than a year, attorneys for beating
victim Kirk Henry have asked Senior U.S. Judge Philip Pro to place an injunction
on millions of dollars in ill-gotten funds the Rizzolos stashed in the
Cook Islands. Henry's neck was broken in 2001 by one of the Rizzolo's strip
club managers after the Kansas tourist disputed an $88 padded bar tab.
Rick agreed to pay Henry $10 million restitution in exchange for a shortened
prison stay, but later reneged.
Henry's June 2011 attempt to freeze the
off shore money failed. Since then, Lisa Rizzolo has transferred and spent
$714,481.40 of the Cook Islands stash, possibly laundering the majority
to pay for her and her ex-husband's lavish lifestyles, while Henry waits
in an electric wheelchair for his court ordered restitution. So far, Henry
received just over $3 million including $1 million from the Rizzolo's insurance
and about $2 million from the secret sale of the Philadelphia Crazy Horse
Too of which Rick was a part owner. The balance of $7 million plus interest
remains unpaid while Henry's medical and legal bills mount.
With new found information about the $714,481.40,
Henry's attorneys on September 18, 2012, filed a RENEWED
MOTION FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF AGAINST THE DISSIPATION OR TRANSFER OF ASSETS.
A hearing on the motion is set for October 10, 2012 in U.S. Federal Court,
and this time the motion is expected to be approved which should put a
giant crimp in Rick and Lisa's lifestyles.
The Cook Islands accounts were set up
and managed by attorney John Dawson, brother of U.S. Federal Judge Kent
Dawson who presided over the trials of 15 Crazy Horse Too employees without
disclosing that his unscrupulous brother was Rick
and Lisa Rizzolo's "Protector." John Dawson acts as the teller for
the Rizzolo's off shore accounts, and will be a key witness in Kirk Henry's
Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act trial scheduled for March 26, 2013 in
Federal Court.
In the meantime, according to the court's
order, the IRS must patiently wait for Henry to be paid before the U.S.
Treasury can go after the balance of the Cook Islands accounts (if there's
a balance left) to recover millions the Rizzolos still owe in back taxes,
interest, and penalties.
But there's more Rizzolo laundered cash
being sought!
The Federal Court on April 19, 2012, ordered
Rick's stepmother Kimtran to turn over to Kirk Henry $1,052,996.03 that
Rick arranged to be fraudulently transferred to his late father Bart
Rizzolo from the Philadelphia sale. Kimtran refused to cooperate. Henry's
attorneys Don Campbell and Stan Hunterton filed a motion to hold Kimtran
in contempt, A hearing was held on September 10, 2012, but Kimtran was
a no-show. This triggered the court on September 17, to order
the immediate seizure of Kimtran's bank accounts and annuities and
transfer the seized funds into Kirk Henry's trust account.
Kimtran appealed the April 19 and September
17 orders to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Her appeal included
the following plea:
DEFENDANT KIMTRAN
RIZZOLO’S RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR ORDER TO HOLD KIMTRAN RIZZOLO
IN CIVIL CONTEMPT FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH ORDER (#583) AND JUDGMENT
(#584)
Plaintiffs continue
to disparage Kimtran by stating that she shamelessly and brazenly refused
to comply with the Order (#583) and Judgment (584) which was befitting
of a member of the Rizzolo clan. (#603, lns 14-17). Perhaps these
tactics to smear Kimtran, who is the widow of Bart Rizzolo, is nothing
more than an attempt to cover up the fact that Plaintiffs’ counsel were
less than diligent in protecting Crazy Horse Two, the primary asset from
which the judgment was expected to be paid.
Defendant has not
shamelessly and brazenly refused to comply with the court’s order. As indicated
by the District Court, a mistake was made in the amount of the judgment
which Kimtran is required to pay. Therefore, until that issue is resolved,
and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rules on her appeal, it is reasonable,
and not a contempt of court for Kimtran to refuse to transfer money in
satisfaction of the judgment. In the alternative, Plaintiffs’ motion should
be denied until leave is obtained from the Court of Appeals to file a motion
to correct the judgment in this matter.
DATED: September
17, 2012
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Herbert Sachs |
Kimtran's attorney Herb Sachs argues that
Henry's attorneys did not protect the Crazy Horse Too asset. To protect
the value of the asset, the U.S. Department of Justice would have
had to operate the topless bar until it could be sold for enough to cover
the Rizzolo's debts. Sachs also argues that Kimtran's late husband Bart
had loaned Rick money and paid Rick's attorney's fees. Sachs argues that
those amounts should be deducted from the $1,052,996.03 Kimtran owes Henry.
However, Sachs fails to provide evidence the loans ever existed or that
Rick's attorney's fees were paid by Bart, and if so, why Henry should be
stuck paying the Rizzolo's personal bills out of his restitution!
Kimtran's appeal, like those of Rick and
Lisa Rizzolo's, is expected to be summarily dismissed for lack of substance.
But no matter what decision the Ninth Circuit Court makes, the April 19,
and September 17 orders forced the banks and insurance companies holding
Kimtran's fraudulently transferred loot to transfer $1,052,996.03 to Henry's
trust account.
Also, in the event the total $1,052,996.03
is no longer available or was transferred off shore, Henry's attorneys
placed a lien on Kimtran's southwest Las Vegas home, and their motion to
hold her in contempt still stands. Kimtran's latest contempt hearing is
scheduled for October 10. If she again refuses to appear, or U.S. Marshals
come up short on collecting the outstanding amount, Henry's attorneys ask
that Kimtran be fined on a daily basis until she complies.
All the recent activity indicates that
the court has had enough -- like so many of us who have been following
this ad nauseam case. Even though HENRY vs. RIZZOLO has become a case study
in several prominent law schools for its example of how ill-gotten assets
can be protected and the courts held at bay, it's been eleven years since
Kirk Henry's neck was broken. How long can justice be stalled?
MORE INFORMATION:
http://www.lvrj.com/news/judge-keeps-pressure-on-former-crazy-horse-too-owner-170655926.html
http://www.americanmafia.com/Inside_Vegas/9-10-12_Inside_Vegas.html
http://www.americanmafia.com/Inside_Vegas/8-13-12_Inside_Vegas.html
http://www.americanmafia.com/Inside_Vegas/6-25-12_Inside_Vegas.html
http://www.stevemiller4lasvegas.com/RickRizzolo.html
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