Arizona Strip Clubs Drugged and Stole Over $1 Million From Customers in Elaborate Scheme, Says New Lawsuit
Three Scottsdale, Arizona, strip clubs are facing a lawsuit that says three establishments and their parent company engaged in an elaborate scheme that enabled them to charge excessively high amounts on customers' credit cards without their customers’ authorization.
Nearly 20 alleged victims are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, and their complaint argues that many more unknowing customers were targeted by the defendants. The plaintiffs say that more than one million dollars worth of unauthorized transactions were made among three ”sister clubs” including Skin Cabaret and Bones Cabaret in Scottsdale and Dream Palace in Tempe.
The lawsuit was first filed in December by 15 alleged victims, and another male plaintiff was added to the complaint on February 13. All the men say they were drugged, photographed, and taken advantage of without their consent. The lawsuit lists 10 claims including civil racketeering, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and unjust enrichment.
The men say that between October and November 16th, 2021, cash was stolen from them, and at least one man’s fingerprint was used to authorize $187,600 of charges to his American Express card. He says the excessive charge happened after a dancer rolled his fingerprint, forcing him to sign a document that led to the unauthorized transactions.
Another man says that at Bone Cabaret on November 20th, 2021, he admittedly paid $4,170 for a private room and private dance, but was charged over 58,000 in transactions he did not approve. He says that during his time at the club, he was drugged, and someone else forged a signature on credit card receipts. At least one transaction was a tip of $6,000 to the hostess and a payment of $8,550 to someone else. He says he was also forced to take a picture standing up holding a clipboard to prove he approved the transactions.
Yet another man says that a similar thing happened to him at Bone Cabaret in March 2022. After being led to a private back room, he says employees forged his signature and initials and took his fingerprint without his consent. The man was subsequently charged a total of $109,764, with many of the charges under the guise of “tips.” The man says that after he was dragged to the private backroom, two friends who he was with tried to get him but staff did not allow them to have access to him.
According to their lawsuit, the men are seeking restitution for the unauthorized charges and punitive damages.
The three strip clubs are represented by the law firm Wilenchik and Bartness. The clubs have denied any wrongdoing, and their legal team issued a statement that explained in part, “The suggestion that someone guided the Plaintiffs’ hands in signing for each service is simply ludicrous,” adding, “No bouncers prevented their exit. There are no hard doors preventing anyone from leaving. In short, this is no different than going into a casino to gamble, losing money, and demanding its return, only worse. The Plaintiffs received what they bargained for and did not complain to our client about any of it while they were receiving the benefits of what they sought.”
