Velvet Ropes, Lavish Lies: The Philadelphia Strip Club Scandal That Rocked the Tax Man

In the shadowy world where late-night revelry meets the cold, hard numbers of tax season, a truly eyebrow-raising scandal has unfurled in the City of Brotherly Love. Imagine, if you will, the bustling atmosphere of Philadelphia's most well-known adult entertainment venues. Now, picture an alleged plot unfolding behind the velvet ropes, one where lap dances and luxury getaways weren't just for patrons, but, rather astonishingly, for a city tax auditor.

This, in essence, is the story emerging from recent indictments targeting two prominent Philadelphia strip club executives: Bartolo “Bobby” Mungo and Michael “The Manager” Mangan. For years, prosecutors claim, these men, along with their associated businesses like the infamous Club Onyx, Purple Rain, and Gold Club, engaged in a brazen conspiracy to defraud none other than the Internal Revenue Service. And how, you might ask, did they aim to accomplish such a feat?

Well, the method, it seems, was as audacious as it was salacious. Enter George Michael Neuner, a city tax auditor who, by all accounts, was allegedly treated to quite the VIP experience. We're talking about a veritable smorgasbord of perks: cold hard cash, sure, but also a seemingly endless supply of complimentary lap dances, exclusive private parties, and, honestly, even lavish trips to places like Las Vegas and Miami. You could say, for once, the perks of the job extended well beyond a stable pension.

The motive? Pure and simple: to drastically reduce the tax liabilities of their establishments. Neuner, who has since pleaded guilty to his role, allegedly played a pivotal part in this elaborate charade, providing false tax assessments and consistently underreporting the actual sales and earnings pouring into these clubs. This wasn't a one-off slip-up; oh no, this alleged scheme, according to authorities, ran like a well-oiled, albeit illicit, machine from 2013 all the way through 2016.

Mungo, who owned both Club Onyx and Purple Rain, and Mangan, manager of Purple Rain and an officer at Club Onyx, now face serious charges. They're looking at counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States and corruptly giving something of value to an agent receiving federal funds. It's a stark reminder, perhaps, that even in the most dazzling of establishments, the tax man eventually comes calling. And, sometimes, he's allegedly met with a very peculiar kind of hospitality, one that carries a heavy price far beyond the dance floor.