Two club owners charged with tax fraud.

Aug 23, 2012, 3:06 PM

The owners of a Phoenix strip club are in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service and federal prosecutors who allege they filed false tax returns from the Grand Avenue business.

Cynthia DiBernardo has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly failing to report more than $375,000 in revenue from Teasers of Phoenix Ltd. That was a strip club located off of Grand Avenue in west Phoenix near 35th Avenue. The location now houses another strip club called Stilettos Cabaret & Patio.

DiBernardo will go to trial on the federal tax charges in October.

The indictment charges her with not properly reporting revenue generated at the strip club business for tax filings from 2006 to 2009.

The charges come after her ex-husband and also co-owner of the Teasers club, Tony DiBernardo, agreed to a plea deal for failing to report $350,000 in Teasers' cash revenue.

Mr. DiBernardo's plea deal includes cooperating and testifying in other related matters. He will be sentenced in early November.

His attorney, David Eisenberg, declined comment.

Ms. DiBernardo's attorney could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The Arizona Corporation Commission lists the DiBernardos as being involved with several other Phoenix area businesses.

AND:

A Salina man was indicted Wednesday, for failing to report over $500,000 in income.

Kirk Roberts, 49, is charged with failing to report $537,942 in income for tax years 2006, 2007 and 2008 and underpaying his taxes by $153,519. The indictment alleges Roberts owned Wild Wild West, Inc., a strip club in Salina. He collected $3 to $5 cash per night per customer for door cover charges, $25 to $50 per night in cash for house fees paid by dancers for the ability to dance on the stage and $35 per half hour in cash for fees charged to dancers for use of private rooms or â€œchampagne rooms.â€

The cash from the fees was not recorded on the business' cash register. Rather than depositing the cash into the business' bank account, Roberts deposited the money into a personal account.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of three years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The Internal Revenue Service investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Kenney is prosecuting.

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steve22913 years ago

I've always suspected strip club owners would find it very tempting to keep the money they collect directly from dancers (stage fees, house fees, "fines", etc.) off the books.

georgmicrodong13 years ago

I've never understood trying to avoid taxes like that at a club. Most strip clubs are nearly perfect money laundering devices, dealing with that much cash.

"Yeah, we made a million dollars last month. Pathetic Losers spend a lot."

deogol13 years ago

Apparently strip club owners learn their tax strategies from strippers.

Money laundering means laundering for a someone, a someone you generally don't want in your life... or your business.

A friend of mine was a "forensic accountant" - yea, they actually exist LOL! He told me the story of someone selling 50% more coca cola at a higher price than most places in town... huh huh, laundering through vending machines.

inno12313 years ago

My major work is with a forensic accountant and I am married to a tax preparer.

The may way the IRS persues these cases is that they look into your bank accounts and/or personal spending and if they see more going in than you are saying you make or you spending far more than you are claiming to make then they haul you in for an audit and make you show otherwise.

Club_Goer_Seattle13 years ago

When dealing with the I.R.S., it is better to give than to deceive.

motorhead13 years ago

Did Tony Soprano pay taxes?

No. Fuck no. No fuckin' way.

canny13 years ago

Any business owner can get away with pocketing a lot of cash and not reporting it to the IRS as long as they don't put the money in a bank account or use it to make major purchases that are tracked such as cars, boats, or real estate. Food, clothing, gas, lawn care, etc. can all be bought with cash that a business owner (or stripper) earns and doesn't pay taxes on. But almost any major purchase, including vacations, is tracked and can be traced back to you by the IRS.

It's much easier and safer to deposit the money, report it to the IRS as revenue, and then have your business pay for things like your car, your vacations, your house, etc. and deduct those expenses from your business's profits. Talk with a good tax accountant or attorney first to make sure that you categorize all of your spending properly so that when you're audited the IRS gives you a clean bill of health and goes on to harass someone else.

I do exactly that and I've done it for years. The IRS can't catch me hiding income because I report everything. The only thing that they can do is disallow some of my expenses that I'm claiming and I'm careful about what I claim as a business expense and what I don't.