Feds: Ex-strip club owner scammed us — twice

Tresa Baldas | Detroit Free Press

A suburban businessman who owned a popular strip club in Detroit has been indicted on a slew of tax fraud charges, accused of cheating the government out of more than $1 million through shady business practices.

Indicted is Johni Semma of Walled Lake, whom federal prosecutors say ran a couple of schemes — one of which involved taking more than $1 million in taxes out of his employees' paychecks, but not turning the required tax money over to the Internal Revenue Service as mandated by law.

This allegedly occurred at Semma's restaurant, the Bayside Sports Bar & Grille in Walled Lake, where Semma withheld more than $1 million in taxes from his restaurant employees during the years 2008 through 2015. However, prosecutors allege, he failed to fully pay the amounts he withheld to the IRS.

Semma also is accused of hiding a big chunk of income from the government, stemming from the sale of his massive Detroit strip club, The Coliseum, which was once marketed as the largest adult entertainment business in Detroit.

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According to the indictment, Semma sold the Coliseum for more than $6 million — more than half of which was paid for in 2012. Prosecutors allege that Semma received $3.5 million in 2012 from the sale of the Coliseum, but never filed a 2012 income tax return.

As a result, Semma is now charged with failure to file an income tax return. He is also facing 24 counts of failing to account for and pay employment taxes.

If convicted, Semma faces five years in prison for each count of failure to pay the employment taxes.

Semma could not be reached for comment. An attorney of record for Semma is not listed in federal court records.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com Follow her on Twitter @Tbaldas