EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The owners of a controversial adult nightclub in El Paso have been indicted by the State of New York on bribery, fraud and other charges, in an alleged scheme to avoid paying millions of dollars in sales tax.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the indictments of top executives with RCI Hospitality Holdings, a company that owns and operates strip clubs throughout the country, including Chicas Locas here in El Paso.
James said they were being indicted for their roles in a major, multi-million dollar criminal tax fraud and bribery scheme.
An investigation by the New York Office of the Attorney General showed that RCI executives bribed an auditor with the New York Department of Taxation and Finance to avoid paying over $8 million in sales taxes to New York City and the State of New York between 2010 to 2024, the New York Attorney General’s Office said.
A 79-count indictment unsealed on Tuesday, Sept. 16 charges RCI, five of its executives, and three RCI-owned strip clubs in Manhattan with conspiracy, bribery, and criminal tax fraud, among other crimes.
The OAG’s investigation revealed that RCI and its top executives bribed a former DTF auditor and supervisor, in exchange for favorable treatment during at least six different sales tax audits spanning over a decade. The auditor received at least 13 complimentary multi-day trips to Florida where he was given up to $5,000 per day for private dances at RCI-owned strip clubs, the New York Attorney General’s Office said.
RCI executives also paid for the auditor’s hotels and restaurant visits during these trips as well, the New York Attorney General’s Office said.
Additionally, on at least 10 occasions since 2010, Timothy Winata, RCI’s controller and accountant, traveled to Manhattan from Texas to provide the auditor with illegal bribes at RCI’s three Manhattan clubs, the New York Attorney General’s Office said.
Winata was responsible for directly providing the bribes to the auditor and accompanied him on trips to RCI clubs, the New York Attorney General’s Office said.
According to the New York Attorney General’s Office, the trips and bribes were authorized, directed, and overseen by Eric Langan, RCI’s president and chief executive officer; Bradley Chhay, RCI’s chief financial officer; Ahmed Anakar, RCI’s director of operations; and Shaun Kevlin, a regional manager for RCI’s New York City strip clubs and later RCI’s asssistant director of nightclub operations.
The defendants also falsified the business records of RCI strip clubs to conceal their crimes and recorded the cash payments used to bribe the auditor as “promotional” expenses for the clubs, according to the New York Attorney General’s Office.
The individuals charged in the indictment are:
- Ahmed “Ed” Anakar, 58, of Plantation, Florida;
- Bradley Chhay, 41, of Conroe, Texas;
- Shaun Kevlin, 45, of Warwick, New York;
- Eric Langan, 57, of Bellaire, Texas; and
- Timothy Winata, 71, of Houston, Texas.
A sixth individual has also been indicted but not yet arrested and will be arraigned at a later date. The indictment will remain sealed as to that defendant until they are arraigned.
If convicted on the top count of criminal tax fraud in the first degree, Langan, Winata, and Anakar face a maximum sentence of 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison. If convicted on the top count of bribery in the second degree that they are charged with, Chhay and Kevlin face a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison.
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