Thursday, May 15, 2014 | 6:30 p.m.
A federal appeals court panel has ruled that former Las Vegas strip club owner Rick Rizzolo fraudulently hid large sums of money in an account to avoid paying part of a $10 million judgment to a man beaten up at the Crazy Horse Too.
The three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the appeal of Rizzolo’s stepmother Kimtran Rizzolo that the money was transferred to pay debts prior to the judgment.
Kirk Henry of Kansas was beaten by bouncers in a dispute over an $80 bar bill in 2001 at the club, 2466 Industrial Road. The beating left Henry as a quadriplegic. Henry and his wife, Amy, filed suit. Rizzolo, who was convicted of tax evasion, has paid part of the judgment.
The federal appeals court Wednesday upheld the decision of senior U.S. District Judge Philip Pro that money was fraudulently placed in a hidden account for his father, Bart Rizzolo. Kimtran, the wife of the father and stepmother of Rizzolo, filed the appeal in federal court.
The court said there was no solid evidence that the money was set aside to pay other prior debts. And Rizzolo concealed the transfer of the money. He shifted the money to his father and subsequently to his mother-in-law.
“There is also no genuine issue of material fact with respect to whether or not Rizzolo concealed the transfers,” said the panel.
During discovery in the federal district court in Las Vegas, Judge Pro found that Rizzolo made fraudulent statements about the funds.
Rizzolo served 10 months in prison on the tax evasion conviction and then was ordered in 2011 to serve 11 months for deceiving his parole officer about the hidden money.
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