Strip Clubs Accused of Drugging Customers, Fraudulently Charging Credit Cards
Nearly 20 plaintiffs are suing a trio of Arizona strip clubs, alleging that they were drugged and scammed out of more than $1 million in VIP rooms. Fox 10 Phoenix recently reviewed documents related to the suit, which was filed in January.
Named in the suit are three strip clubs—Skin Cabaret, Bones Cabaret and Dream Palace—located within two miles of each other on the same road in Scottsdale. They’re also owned by the same person, Todd Borowski, who is accused of racketeering and conspiracy amongst other charges.
Borowski vehemently denied the charges to Fox through his lawyer. However, testimony from the plaintiffs paints a damning picture.
One of the alleged victims interviewed by Fox 10 was a former member of the Air Force. “Joe,” a pseudonym, was stationed in Arizona, during which time he visited one of Borowski’s clubs. He described that fateful night as “life and career-altering.”
Joe claims that when he split off from his friends to use the restroom, he quickly found himself disoriented and separated from his group.
“I remember walking through what I thought was a cloud of perfume or makeup or something, like, dusty from one of the cracks of light that was coming through [one of the doors],” Joe recalled. “That’s when I ended up in the VIP room and started to get these symptoms not alcohol-related, something else that made me acquiesce and go along to what they seemed to be pushing.”
Ultimately, Joe’s credit card was charged $72,000. His testimony matches that of several men who have never met one another, according to financial crimes detectives in Scottsdale.
Another plaintiff, identified as “Bobby,” who was “just confused” when he likewise found himself experiencing unplaceable symptoms in a VIP room at one of Borowski’s clubs.
Though he agreed to pay for drinks and a single private dance, Bobby claims he did not authorize more than $181,000 in charges over eight separate instances.
“[I] didn’t think that these were actually legitimate transactions at that point,” he told the outlet. “It just seemed unconscionable that this would even happen. Especially the charges, the single transaction amounts, that were processed.”
Ultimately, Bobby reported, he “had to get my parents involved.” He described the entire experience as “emotionally pretty difficult to bear.” It was a “strain on not only myself, a family, wife,” he said. “We had little children as well.”
Once the price of a VIP room has been agreed upon, customers at Borowski’s club must sign a contract agreeing to the terms. They must also provide a credit card, a fingerprint, and have their photo taken.
Multiple plaintiffs recall a similar experience. None seem to remember the exact moment they agreed to go into the VIP room or consented to sign the contract. But many detailed hazily recalled instances of intimidation surrounding the process.
“They vaguely recall someone yelling at them to ‘quit messing around and to hold the pen properly,’ to sign a document on a clipboard, or alternatively being yelled at by a bouncer or hostess to ‘sit up straight and smile, we’re trying to take your picture, you’re not smiling,'” Rod Galarza, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, said.
“All tell the same story, yet none of them have met,” Galarza noted.
“It was kind of almost an out-of-body experience because, in my mind, I’m screaming to myself that this is wrong, to leave, to fight my way out,” Joe said of the ordeal. “But they have the bouncer at the door, the disorienting hallways, like I don’t think I’m going to make it out.”
In a statement through his attorney, Borowski vehemently denied the charges against him while categorizing the alleged victims as dishonest. “The cases are baseless,” Borowski’s counsel, Dennis Wilenchik, told Fox.
“It’s like going into a casino and asking for your money back after you choose to be there,” he railed. “First, they were not drugged. Second, the dancers were independent contractors. Third, these guys received services they expressly contracted for and received, and documentation and photos were taken. Fourth, their credit card companies also investigated and approved the transactions.”
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and Scottsdale Police Department are actively working with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office on several cases against Borowski’s clubs.
This case mirrors one that occurred several years ago in New York City, where employees at the popular strip club Scores conspired to defraud unknowing customers by drugging them and stealing their credit cards. The story was profiled in Jessica Pressler’s 2018 New York Magazine article “The Hustlers at Scores,” and was dramatized in the 2019 movie Hustlers, starring Jennifer Lopez.
