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Reali-TEA Crime Stories: Bar DONE - Peter Thomas vs. Payroll · Reality with The King

0:03
Speaker 1: Reality with the King is hosted by me, Carlos King.
0:07
Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer who have produced some of your
0:10
Speaker 1: favorite shows from the Real Housewives in Atlanta, New Jersey
0:13
Speaker 1: and my own creation, The Love and Marriage Franchise and
0:17
Speaker 1: Bell Collective. Every episode we recap reality television from the
0:23
Speaker 1: Real Housewives Franchise to The Bachelor or Selling Sunset, in
0:27
Speaker 1: addition to celebrity guests, whether in the unscripted space or
0:31
Speaker 1: scripted as well. All right, rain Dross, If you've been
0:43
Speaker 1: sipping with us, then you know Reality Crime Stories is
0:46
Speaker 1: where glam meets grit and the headlines always comes with
0:51
Speaker 1: the sight of hard truth. Every week, Courtney Parker and
0:54
Speaker 1: I put back the velvet robe on fame, fortune and
0:58
Speaker 1: the fallout they try to hide.
1:01
Speaker 2: That's right, Carlos, Everything from reality TV scandals to the
1:05
Speaker 2: crimes committed behind the cameras, whether it happens on or
1:09
Speaker 2: off the screen, Carlos and I will bring you the
1:13
Speaker 2: tea surrounding hot topic crime stories involving all of your
1:17
Speaker 2: favorite reality TV personalities.
1:20
Speaker 1: And if today's story taught us anything, child is that
1:23
Speaker 1: in this world the tea is never just hot, it's criminal.
1:30
Speaker 1: Courtney Parker and I are back with another episode of
1:36
Speaker 1: Reality Crime Stories. Hey Courtney, Hey Carlos So. In this
1:44
Speaker 1: episode titled from Bar One to Federal Prison Blues, Courtney
1:50
Speaker 1: Parker and I are going to get into my friend
1:55
Speaker 1: Peter Thomas, formerly of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, as
2:00
Speaker 1: you all know him as a night life impressario suffroclaimed
2:05
Speaker 1: bar boss. Unfortunately, Peter recently turned himself in due to
2:12
Speaker 1: I are as crimes where he was found guilty. I'm sorry,
2:17
Speaker 1: I think he played guilty. As we get into this,
2:20
Speaker 1: right and listen, it's it's it's very tough because I
2:26
Speaker 1: know him, but he is currently in prison. So Courtney,
2:32
Speaker 1: let's just get into what is going on with Peter Thomas.
2:38
Speaker 1: He played guilty to failing to pay over two point
2:41
Speaker 1: five million dollars in payroll taxes to the Department of Justice,
2:47
Speaker 1: receiveds showing employee withholdings allegedly redirected into luxury shopping and
2:55
Speaker 1: high rolling living. As the bar One Brent expanded from
3:00
Speaker 1: Charlotte to Miami to Baltimore, the Fed say the unpaid
3:04
Speaker 1: taxes followed, and so did a paper trail that reads
3:09
Speaker 1: like a Bravo after party God federal courtney, get into
3:14
Speaker 1: a girl. What is going on with Peter?
3:17
Speaker 2: Listen, The thing about Peter is he's no stranger to headlines.
3:22
Speaker 2: Like you, you led with this is your friend. You
3:26
Speaker 2: guys even tried to do a project together. You did
3:28
Speaker 2: do a project together.
3:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, we tried to do the bar one one Let's
3:34
Speaker 1: spin off?
3:35
Speaker 2: Yeah right, But you know you know him more than
3:40
Speaker 2: anyone and knows that he's no stranger to headlines, whether
3:46
Speaker 2: it's Real Housewife of Atlanta spats, ambitious bar openings, and
3:53
Speaker 2: post Bravo ventures. He's always been in the mix. But
3:57
Speaker 2: this time it's not reality drama. It's a federal conviction.
4:02
Speaker 2: We're talking trust fund taxes, which means literally taking money
4:08
Speaker 2: from employees paychecks that was supposed to go directly to
4:11
Speaker 2: the RS. According to prosecutors, Peter kept collecting it but
4:18
Speaker 2: never sent it in. And that's just not about It's
4:23
Speaker 2: bigger than just about mispayments. That's it. It's a straight
4:28
Speaker 2: up fellow me and every word that comes out of
4:34
Speaker 2: if you've ever had to endure an audit, if you've
4:38
Speaker 2: ever been one of the employees that are like, hey,
4:41
Speaker 2: you're taking all of this money out of my check
4:44
Speaker 2: and they're expecting a refund. They're not getting their refunds
4:48
Speaker 2: because this money was never sent in to the rs.
4:52
Speaker 2: So it affects. It's a ripple effect of everything, whether
4:56
Speaker 2: you're not paying your employees, whether the money that was
5:00
Speaker 2: withheld from their checks, they're not getting it back in
5:04
Speaker 2: the form of a refund. So the employees can also
5:08
Speaker 2: be in in tax you know, penalties in tax trouble.
5:16
Speaker 2: We've seen this play out in so many celebrities lives,
5:22
Speaker 2: everybody from Wesley Snipes when he had this seven million
5:25
Speaker 2: dollar tax evasion conviction, Lauren Hill when she was sentenced
5:30
Speaker 2: to for failure to pay roughly a million dollars in taxes,
5:36
Speaker 2: even Fat Joe who had nearly three million dollars in taxes.
5:42
Speaker 2: The difference is those were their taxes, that was their money.
5:49
Speaker 2: So with Peter's case, it is his employee's money that
5:55
Speaker 2: he was playing with, and it was supposed to be
5:58
Speaker 2: held in a trust for the government and the that
6:03
Speaker 2: the I r S considers this sacred money. And once
6:07
Speaker 2: you cross the line and you keep that money for yourself. Uh,
6:12
Speaker 2: it's not about blaming an accountant, it's about you're in
6:17
Speaker 2: territories that are considered federal Trust fund theft. So that's
6:23
Speaker 2: what he is dealing with right now. And it is
6:27
Speaker 2: it is bad.
6:30
Speaker 1: No, it's it's it's horrible. So, just so I'm clear
6:36
Speaker 1: and able to break this down to the rain drops,
6:40
Speaker 1: Peter went to jail because he failed to pay the
6:46
Speaker 1: withholding fees that a business owner, a business owner has
6:51
Speaker 1: to pay to the i RS when they have employees.
6:56
Speaker 1: Is that what? So that's basically.
6:58
Speaker 2: In a nutshell, your company, say it's your company or
7:03
Speaker 2: my company, money is withheld from where we claim that
7:09
Speaker 2: if you have a body of ten employees, taxes that
7:13
Speaker 2: are supposed to be withheld or taxes that are payroll
7:18
Speaker 2: that you're saying is designated. I'm going to pay my
7:22
Speaker 2: employees this amount. I'm keeping that money in a trust.
7:28
Speaker 2: I'm going to keep this money safely and securely in
7:31
Speaker 2: a trust, and I'm going to be responsible for paying
7:36
Speaker 2: the taxes. So when you send off your tax documents,
7:40
Speaker 2: whatever whatever, whatever that money is designated to pay, you're
7:45
Speaker 2: telling the IRS, I have two point five million dollars
7:51
Speaker 2: that is supposed to go towards my employee payroll. You're
7:57
Speaker 2: claiming that right, you're saying, if I made ten million dollars,
8:03
Speaker 2: two point five million dollars of that is going is
8:06
Speaker 2: I'm setting aside to pay my employees, so that you're
8:11
Speaker 2: not paying taxes on the full ten million dollars. You're
8:15
Speaker 2: actually paying taxes on what is that seven point eight
8:21
Speaker 2: million dollars, that's what you're supposed to be paying taxes
8:24
Speaker 2: on because two point five or I'm sorry, you're paying
8:29
Speaker 2: taxes on seven point five million dollars versus paying taxes
8:34
Speaker 2: on two point five million dollars because you're saying the
8:37
Speaker 2: two point five out of the ten million that's designated
8:41
Speaker 2: two point five dollars is designated to my payroll, So
8:44
Speaker 2: I'm supposed to use that money to pay my employees. Well,
8:47
Speaker 2: employees were working and saying they weren't getting their money,
8:51
Speaker 2: where is their money? And he was using their money
8:57
Speaker 2: for himself.
8:59
Speaker 1: Goddess God, I got it on it.
9:01
Speaker 2: So he was inevitably not paying taxes, not allegedly uh
9:10
Speaker 2: tax money that was supposed to be withheld for within
9:13
Speaker 2: your trust for employees payroll, he was using it for himself.
9:20
Speaker 2: They're talking from and when you have to turn in
9:24
Speaker 2: your accounting and how you spent this money. If you're
9:28
Speaker 2: allotting that, well two point five went to payroll, and
9:31
Speaker 2: whistle blowers or employees are saying you didn't. You haven't
9:35
Speaker 2: paid me anything. I haven't got paid. You're opening up
9:39
Speaker 2: all these restaurants, but you're showing up with new Louis,
9:43
Speaker 2: new Gucci, new cars, new new things with our money.
9:48
Speaker 2: That's where it got really dicey. And you have to
9:52
Speaker 2: prove what you bought. So when they audit you and
9:54
Speaker 2: go through your books, the irs does not play. When
9:58
Speaker 2: they go through your books, you have to justify by
10:00
Speaker 2: all of your spending and they can see where all
10:03
Speaker 2: your money went. So for him, it went to places
10:08
Speaker 2: that it shouldn't have and it wasn't.
10:12
Speaker 1: So yeah, So what is so interesting about this is
10:16
Speaker 1: when it and we'll get into the details. But obviously,
10:19
Speaker 1: you know, my audience are huge fans of the Real
10:23
Speaker 1: Housepots of Atlanta. And while Peter's on the show, and
10:27
Speaker 1: I'm sure you you've seen this to Courtney watching the
10:29
Speaker 1: show those years as well, there's always been you know,
10:33
Speaker 1: rumors and shade throwing Peter's way. You know, Phaedra and
10:39
Speaker 1: Porsche famously called bar one Bar None. They have accused
10:46
Speaker 1: Peter throughout the show of not playing his employees. They
10:51
Speaker 1: have accused Peter throughout the show, I'm not paying people
10:54
Speaker 1: in general. We all know that season three when Peter
10:57
Speaker 1: and Sempa came on the show, that they did not
11:02
Speaker 1: have any money, that they ran out of money, and
11:04
Speaker 1: how Cynthia was somebody, as a proud model since she
11:09
Speaker 1: was a teenager, spent her entire life saving money because
11:13
Speaker 1: as a model, when the getting is good, you get
11:15
Speaker 1: it because you know that the shelf life of a
11:18
Speaker 1: model sort of expires when you hit your thirties. Unfortunately,
11:22
Speaker 1: right so here she is a woman in her forties
11:26
Speaker 1: getting married for the first time and they are now
11:30
Speaker 1: both in death. Now what happened after that is bar
11:35
Speaker 1: One has been featuring the show. We were going to
11:38
Speaker 1: do a spin off of bar One Charlotte that did
11:41
Speaker 1: not get picked up by the network. When it comes
11:44
Speaker 1: to the sort of smoking mirrors of what was going
11:48
Speaker 1: on these years on the show, are you surprised by
11:55
Speaker 1: what is going on with Peter?
12:00
Speaker 2: No, I'm not, because it's not smoking mirrors. When you
12:06
Speaker 2: if you follow the money, you're gonna land at the truth.
12:10
Speaker 2: You know, like a lot of times these were allegations.
12:15
Speaker 2: I do think though, when allegations turn into actuality, that's
12:24
Speaker 2: what we're dealing with here. And I've gotta say this,
12:28
Speaker 2: like Peter is always gonna be connected in word and
12:33
Speaker 2: in breadth to real housewives of Atlanta Royalty, Cynthia Bailey,
12:38
Speaker 2: who I absolutely admire in all of this because when
12:44
Speaker 2: I say, no other housewives that I know of would
12:49
Speaker 2: maintain such grace and poise, even though her name gets
12:54
Speaker 2: drug in association with him. So just kudos to her
13:01
Speaker 2: for being nothing but quiet and gracious in all of them.
13:05
Speaker 2: I know she's like, ooh, I dodged a bullet. She
13:08
Speaker 2: has not given any messy interviews, she has not posted
13:12
Speaker 2: anything cryptic. She is just book busy in minding her business.
13:18
Speaker 2: So I like that. But with him, we've seen it,
13:24
Speaker 2: We've seen what comes across sometimes is his arrogance, his
13:30
Speaker 2: boss moves, his for lack of a better word, his
13:36
Speaker 2: lack of knowledge when you're over your head trying to
13:40
Speaker 2: run these businesses. So I do believe where there was smoke,
13:45
Speaker 2: there was fire, and unfortunately, by pleading guilty, you're at
13:51
Speaker 2: least owning your part in the mishap. With respect to
13:56
Speaker 2: the money.
13:57
Speaker 1: It's why it was been going on. So I want
14:00
Speaker 1: to give the rain drops a timeline of what's been happening.
14:06
Speaker 1: So these are all the allegations that we found based
14:10
Speaker 1: on just the public records of the core documents. So
14:15
Speaker 1: listen up, rain drops. I'll just say allegedly for the
14:19
Speaker 1: sake of saying it, Allegedly, between the years of two
14:23
Speaker 1: thousand and seventeen. In twenty twenty three, Peter allegedly failed
14:29
Speaker 1: to pay over two point five million in payroll taxes.
14:34
Speaker 1: The Department of Justice outlines over one point seven million
14:39
Speaker 1: from employee withholdings were diverted. On July second of twenty
14:46
Speaker 1: twenty four, Peter did a guilty plead. December nineteenth of
14:52
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four is when Peter was sentenced at eighteen
14:57
Speaker 1: months plus two years provides release plus two point five
15:04
Speaker 1: six million dollars in restitution the court knows luxury spending
15:10
Speaker 1: and transfers. August first of twenty twenty five is when
15:16
Speaker 1: Peter reported to Miami Federal Prison to where he is
15:22
Speaker 1: currently serving his sentence. So Courtney, this is interesting. So
15:28
Speaker 1: he's been sentenced to eighteen months in prison. He did
15:32
Speaker 1: plead guilty based on him pleading guilty because we know
15:36
Speaker 1: that some people. We talked about the Chris Lees who
15:42
Speaker 1: went to prison for the alleged accusation, the alledged crime
15:50
Speaker 1: of withholding tax as well. I'm not sure it was
15:52
Speaker 1: payroll tax. I think was just record tax. But I'll
15:55
Speaker 1: have you explain that. Okay, did Peter get it, in
16:00
Speaker 1: your opinion, a lighter sentence because he did, after all,
16:06
Speaker 1: plead guilty, whereas the other affirmission celebrities that we know
16:10
Speaker 1: from the Bravo world u pled not guilty, and when
16:14
Speaker 1: they were found guilty, their sentence did seem harsher.
16:18
Speaker 2: Well, we're talking about it's not tax evasion as much
16:22
Speaker 2: as fraud, tax fraud. For Peter, what's the difference, Well, again,
16:28
Speaker 2: he wasn't. They're talking When you're talking about the Chris Leeds,
16:31
Speaker 2: when you're talking about Teresa, we're talking about their money.
16:36
Speaker 2: When we're talking about Peter, he's we're talking about other
16:39
Speaker 2: people's money. We're talking about payroll. So he it's it's
16:44
Speaker 2: it's a different dynamics, same tax uh fraud, but it's
16:49
Speaker 2: different dynamics because it's one thing for me to claim
16:55
Speaker 2: I didn't get money or I got money, and I
16:57
Speaker 2: didn't necessarily say all the money that I got, it's it.
17:02
Speaker 2: I feel entitled to my money, which is a lot
17:04
Speaker 2: of times why they like the crescies pled not guilty.
17:07
Speaker 2: They were like, this is our money, we earned it.
17:10
Speaker 2: We didn't defraud all the companies that they were alleged
17:15
Speaker 2: to have defrauded. We're talking about people who were waiting
17:20
Speaker 2: on their paychecks, and Peter used the money for payroll
17:25
Speaker 2: to keep and spend on himself. It's not his money,
17:31
Speaker 2: so you know it belongs to your employees and the
17:34
Speaker 2: irs they're still on the hook for. It's a different
17:39
Speaker 2: kind of fraud. It's not just tax evasion. It's fraud
17:42
Speaker 2: you to you use my money. I still am claiming
17:47
Speaker 2: that I was supposed to make this money. I earned
17:51
Speaker 2: this money. You kept it and bought Louie every dollar
17:56
Speaker 2: in that trust fund. You were the trusted person for
18:01
Speaker 2: the trust fund for your payroll employees, and you spent
18:05
Speaker 2: that money allegedly on yourself. That's government property. That's money
18:11
Speaker 2: that should have been withheld for your employees. You pocketed it.
18:16
Speaker 2: That's what the prosecutors are. That's what he's gone to
18:21
Speaker 2: gel for. That was what the conviction was for it
18:24
Speaker 2: wasn't his money to spend. So having said all of that,
18:28
Speaker 2: that's a federal offense because you still owe restitution to
18:35
Speaker 2: not a company, you owe restitution to these people who
18:40
Speaker 2: came to work every day and never got paid. Eighteen
18:44
Speaker 2: months is not a long time, so I wouldn't necessarily
18:49
Speaker 2: call it a light sentence. But because he's it's eighteen
18:53
Speaker 2: months in federal prison, I don't know that they're shaven
18:57
Speaker 2: down that time. Fed time is really real time, like
19:03
Speaker 2: you know, I just don't know if he might have
19:06
Speaker 2: to end up serving the entire eighteen months. And then
19:09
Speaker 2: let's not forget that he got eighteen months plus two
19:13
Speaker 2: years supervised, and he still has to figure out a
19:17
Speaker 2: way to pay back the two point six y five
19:19
Speaker 2: million dollars two point five two h million dollars in restitution.
19:26
Speaker 2: So you've got eighteen months in federal prison, you've got
19:32
Speaker 2: two years supervised release, and then you still have to
19:37
Speaker 2: pay back the money you owe that you spent that
19:41
Speaker 2: should have been going to your employees. I think there
19:43
Speaker 2: was there was a person that I felt really sad
19:48
Speaker 2: for one of his employees that had been working and
19:52
Speaker 2: showing up and promised her paycheck for months on end
19:58
Speaker 2: and she just never got her. So imagine going to
20:01
Speaker 2: work every day and still not collecting your money. It's
20:05
Speaker 2: it's like crazy.
20:08
Speaker 1: To piggyback off of what you're saying, Courtney, which is
20:11
Speaker 1: just this is getting crazy and crazier. So Peter is
20:16
Speaker 1: currently serving time in the it's a Miami prison. It's
20:24
Speaker 1: called the federal What's hold on a second, I want
20:29
Speaker 1: to make sure I get it right. It's a federal prison.
20:32
Speaker 1: It's a federal it's called the Federal Correctional Institution in Miami.
20:39
Speaker 1: So rain drops, listen up to what allegedly happened. So
20:46
Speaker 1: they're saying that Peter allegedly withdrew two point five million
20:51
Speaker 1: dollars from its businesses, used three hundred and seventy thousand
20:56
Speaker 1: dollars for travel in real estate, and use more than
21:00
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty thousand dollars on shopping at high
21:04
Speaker 1: end stores.
21:08
Speaker 2: Coney while you laugh, you can't believe baton your way
21:13
Speaker 2: out of a ledger?
21:14
Speaker 1: They was what that wasn't it was?
21:17
Speaker 2: It? I read several reports that he did several spending
21:22
Speaker 2: sprees on uh Louis vuiton that's why I keep mentioning
21:27
Speaker 2: Louis Baton he was a beeton more than Dion Sanders. Listen, listen,
21:37
Speaker 2: you can't do that because it's not your money. You
21:41
Speaker 2: have your poor little employees just trying to you know,
21:46
Speaker 2: bottoms up on their paycheck, and you they can't have
21:49
Speaker 2: it because you're spending two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
21:53
Speaker 2: You just read those numbers. Two hundred and fifty thousand
21:57
Speaker 2: dollars in shopping, shopping at Target. With that money, he
22:02
Speaker 2: was at Louis and Gucci, Louie and Gucci. Every bag
22:12
Speaker 2: that he bought, everything that he bought was also part
22:17
Speaker 2: of the prosecutor's exhibits. So when you look at the
22:21
Speaker 2: court document and you see those ledgers of Exhibit A,
22:26
Speaker 2: Exhibit B, there was a lot of designer goods leave
22:32
Speaker 2: Bauton that were entered into the court's records as as
22:38
Speaker 2: part of what he spent the money on. Allegedly.
22:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, so Peter Thomas before, so Courtney, before Peter turned himself,
22:53
Speaker 1: not turn himself in child before I thought of right
23:00
Speaker 1: worse the yous chyld y'all know, I've been the ab
23:02
Speaker 1: dy k Williams School of Law so I'm talking of
23:05
Speaker 1: fu the right terminology. Okay, thank Kelly.
23:08
Speaker 2: I've gotten my law degree from Law and Order University.
23:12
Speaker 1: Exactly. So Peter reported to president on August first. But
23:19
Speaker 1: before he did that, Courtney Peter did have this to
23:23
Speaker 1: say on Instagram. And this is what he said, Courtney Parker,
23:27
Speaker 1: and I quote all my people told me not to
23:31
Speaker 1: post this, that I am crazy. If I do, I
23:34
Speaker 1: am not crazy, just realist. Fuck. The first thing I
23:39
Speaker 1: must say to all new business owners, please pay that
23:44
Speaker 1: withholding tax. You do not want to be in the
23:47
Speaker 1: position that I am right now. The law is the law.
23:53
Speaker 1: It's not easy for us black men, especially my industry.
23:57
Speaker 1: No bank fund, restaurant, bar loud. We have to put
24:01
Speaker 1: that shit on us. This is a new chapter in
24:04
Speaker 1: my life. It's called accountability and responsibility. He concluded accordinate
24:12
Speaker 1: by saying God bless And by the way, I didn't
24:16
Speaker 1: just found God in my time with troubles. I was
24:20
Speaker 1: raised this way. Love Peet, which is Peter Thomas.
24:27
Speaker 2: How do you feel about that?
24:30
Speaker 1: I mean, look, I will say this, I will say
24:32
Speaker 1: this obviously. I love Peter. I love Peter. I've known
24:37
Speaker 1: Peter for oh my gosh, oh my gosh, fourteen years Peter.
24:43
Speaker 1: Peter is a good guy. He's a great person. Now,
24:49
Speaker 1: with that being said, obviously Peter did something bad, and
24:53
Speaker 1: I'm not here to dispute that what Peter did is bad, right.
25:00
Speaker 1: I do appreciate Peter holding himself accountable. And look, now
25:07
Speaker 1: there are things within that quote right that I know
25:11
Speaker 1: a lot of people rightfully so would find hard to
25:16
Speaker 1: swallow as he's sort of on one hand, he's saying
25:22
Speaker 1: he's taking accountability, but I can see how people may
25:25
Speaker 1: feel like he isn't by saying it's not easy for
25:28
Speaker 1: us black men in our industry. And I want to
25:33
Speaker 1: go on records saying there's a lot of black men
25:35
Speaker 1: who own companies that are paying, they're were holding taxes.
25:39
Speaker 1: There are tons of black men in the industry who
25:42
Speaker 1: do hire accountants to figure things out when it comes
25:45
Speaker 1: to the RS. So I don't want to make this
25:46
Speaker 1: a race thing. I think what Peter did is a
25:49
Speaker 1: Peter thing. And I say that to say, Peter has
25:53
Speaker 1: been in the business for a very long time. And
25:58
Speaker 1: if the accusations are true, that the money was spent
26:00
Speaker 1: on real estate, shopping and et cetera, then you can't
26:04
Speaker 1: blame your you being a black man for that, and
26:07
Speaker 1: I love Peter, and I hope, I hope Peter did
26:11
Speaker 1: not mean in that way. I'm pretty sure when Peter
26:14
Speaker 1: watches this, he's going to call me, phone me a
26:16
Speaker 1: customing out, because that's what Peter does. And Peter, I
26:20
Speaker 1: love you. If I got it wrong, hit me up, brother,
26:23
Speaker 1: I love you. But listen, I think it's I will
26:27
Speaker 1: say this, he pled guilty.
26:31
Speaker 2: He did, and I will say in Peter's defense, and
26:37
Speaker 2: I know, good thing he's not tied to any real
26:41
Speaker 2: housewife now, because I always get on the hook for
26:44
Speaker 2: defending the real housewives husbands. What I believe he was
26:52
Speaker 2: trying to say, and I would agree with it is
26:55
Speaker 2: harder for black business owners to navigate through the red
27:03
Speaker 2: tape of the irs. It really is. When you have
27:10
Speaker 2: a nightlife is a high cash flow, high turnover business.
27:16
Speaker 2: Add to that multiple locations, a mix of cash and
27:20
Speaker 2: credit transactions, and the temptation to borrow money from your
27:25
Speaker 2: business for your own personal use. If you're not if
27:29
Speaker 2: you have not taken business courses, if you're so busy
27:33
Speaker 2: making the money and then spending the money and not
27:37
Speaker 2: paying attention to the expansion and having bullet proof bookkeeping.
27:44
Speaker 2: Business owners can get caught up. So I'm assuming because
27:47
Speaker 2: he did plead guilty and he just said within his
27:50
Speaker 2: own quote he got caught up. I don't think he
27:54
Speaker 2: understood the extent of it. And I will say the
27:58
Speaker 2: irs is ten times harsher on businesses for minorities then
28:06
Speaker 2: they are on businesses that are not under a micro
28:11
Speaker 2: I mean that are not under a magnifying glass. Because
28:15
Speaker 2: Peter was who he was, attention was going to be
28:19
Speaker 2: on him. He's very outspoken, he's very charismatic, and he
28:24
Speaker 2: talks a lot of shit, excuse my language. And so
28:29
Speaker 2: when you have those recipes, it could be a recipe
28:32
Speaker 2: for good, a success or a recipe for disaster. And
28:37
Speaker 2: I think had it not been for people not getting
28:41
Speaker 2: paid and him not understanding that his livelihood and how
28:46
Speaker 2: flashy he was was affecting somebody else's livelihood because they
28:50
Speaker 2: were the bartender or they were the waitress, I think
28:54
Speaker 2: because the right because those worlds are so separate. If
29:00
Speaker 2: I'm making ten dollars an hour as a waitress and
29:07
Speaker 2: I'm banking on my tips, and I'm getting my tips,
29:10
Speaker 2: but I'm not getting my payroll, my check, and I
29:13
Speaker 2: need my check then, and I'm looking at Peter who's
29:16
Speaker 2: coming in with a new pair of Gucci or Louis
29:20
Speaker 2: Waitah loafers, and I need my ten dollars. I think
29:25
Speaker 2: sometimes people who have extreme wealth or who was living
29:30
Speaker 2: the life get so caught up in the life that
29:33
Speaker 2: they forget that there are people. These people who are
29:36
Speaker 2: making a minimum amount of money need their money, so
29:41
Speaker 2: it's their money, and he's thinking, well, this is my business,
29:46
Speaker 2: so I can dip my hand over here if I
29:48
Speaker 2: need to dip my hand over there without literally understanding
29:53
Speaker 2: how strategic and how ironclad your bookkeeping needs to be,
29:59
Speaker 2: and not probably wanting to be educated enough that you're
30:03
Speaker 2: trusting somebody else with your money. When we talk about
30:07
Speaker 2: the Wesley Snipes and the Lauren Hills, people get taken
30:11
Speaker 2: advantage of by these accountants all day long. So when
30:14
Speaker 2: we start to step into a lane that you're not
30:17
Speaker 2: really well versed in, it becomes a very delicate but
30:22
Speaker 2: dangerous dance that you're you're doing. When you're like, I
30:27
Speaker 2: think I can run my business, but I'm in over
30:30
Speaker 2: my head.
30:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, listen, I'm with you. When it comes to the
30:36
Speaker 1: employees making minimum wage and relying on their paycheck and
30:40
Speaker 1: and not getting it. I'm with you on that month,
30:43
Speaker 1: and there's there's there's no excuse for for for that.
30:48
Speaker 1: If you are spending money buying these things the real
30:51
Speaker 1: estate as shopping, and your employees who are bartenders who
30:55
Speaker 1: oftentimes rely on tips, that's that's that's bad. It's like
31:00
Speaker 1: I say bad, there's I don't. I don't think anybody's
31:03
Speaker 1: making an excuse for him. And listen, he clearly is
31:05
Speaker 1: not making any He took the words out of my mouth.
31:09
Speaker 1: What I would like to get to, Courtney, is the
31:11
Speaker 1: fact that a lot of people assume that in these situations,
31:16
Speaker 1: once you serve your time, it's over. Explain to me
31:20
Speaker 1: how that may not always be the case, because when
31:23
Speaker 1: things fall under the guidelines of restitution, right, even when
31:33
Speaker 1: Peter serves his time, whether it's the full eighteen months
31:37
Speaker 1: or he gets out a little bit earlier due to
31:39
Speaker 1: good behavior, talk to me and explain to me. And
31:43
Speaker 1: the rain drops, Courtney, when he gets out, there's still
31:49
Speaker 1: things he has to do that's court ordered, right, he has.
31:54
Speaker 2: To make hold the money. So whatever the amount, and
32:00
Speaker 2: by the time you get out, whatever the restitution is
32:04
Speaker 2: if it is one point seven or if it's two
32:07
Speaker 2: point five, that money has to be paid to the
32:12
Speaker 2: people who did not receive their payroll taxes, whatever was withheld.
32:18
Speaker 2: Whatever he owes the irs, the IRS is going to
32:21
Speaker 2: get their money, So they'll get their money by way
32:25
Speaker 2: of he'll have an opportunity to either make payments towards
32:29
Speaker 2: his restitution or if he has it like that, he'll
32:34
Speaker 2: be able to just pay the restitution. Like I don't
32:38
Speaker 2: know what Peter's finances is are. We don't know that.
32:42
Speaker 2: But when he gets out of jail, whatever he has,
32:45
Speaker 2: if he was buying properties with it, they can take
32:48
Speaker 2: those properties, or he'll have the opportunity to sell those
32:51
Speaker 2: properties to make hold the restitution. It's like a bill.
32:55
Speaker 2: It's an IRS bill that they will distribute, or it's
32:59
Speaker 2: a court bill. So you you now owe in restitution
33:03
Speaker 2: to the families, the employees that need their money, and
33:08
Speaker 2: to the i r s. You can sometimes if you
33:12
Speaker 2: have a good accountant, they can make deals with the
33:17
Speaker 2: i RNs to bring that number down. If you're making
33:21
Speaker 2: if he's doing step one, which is pleading guilty, owning
33:25
Speaker 2: it and being responsible for it, there is a good chance.
33:29
Speaker 2: I would say, just based off of everything you said
33:32
Speaker 2: about Peter and everything that I've seen about Peter, there's
33:35
Speaker 2: an opportunity for him to make right if he has
33:39
Speaker 2: the money, settle this down, get this settled down to
33:43
Speaker 2: a reasonable amount that he actually can can pay. He
33:48
Speaker 2: might sell off one of the properties. They might They
33:52
Speaker 2: might give him time to earn this money. So when
33:57
Speaker 2: you you might he might approach you to say, Hey, Carlo,
34:00
Speaker 2: let's let's do a do over with respect to a show,
34:05
Speaker 2: because now I got this two point six million dollar
34:07
Speaker 2: restitution bill to make. We might want to see Peter
34:12
Speaker 2: get out of jail, but he ain't getting out of
34:15
Speaker 2: jail free. There is no get out of jee free
34:18
Speaker 2: prior there is a you have a get out of
34:21
Speaker 2: jail debt card that you have to pay.
34:26
Speaker 1: So all the money, whatever money he makes for the
34:30
Speaker 1: rest of his life, the moment he gets relieved, he
34:35
Speaker 1: must pay back this two point five million dollars and
34:38
Speaker 1: what and all his money will be garnished. Does it
34:42
Speaker 1: work that way, absolutely.
34:44
Speaker 2: Because it's the I R S. Unless he gets a pardon,
34:49
Speaker 2: uh like the Chrysalies did. Unless he gets a pardon
34:55
Speaker 2: and they excuse and eliminate that debt. He can fight
34:59
Speaker 2: it to get it either tossed out or reduced. But
35:03
Speaker 2: the reality is when it comes to the irs, especially
35:07
Speaker 2: if you pled guilty, they want their money. So unless
35:11
Speaker 2: he's sitting on millions and millions of dollars that we
35:15
Speaker 2: just don't know about, because he could get out of
35:17
Speaker 2: jail and say, hey, I'm just gonna pay it on off,
35:21
Speaker 2: he could have it like that, I don't know. But
35:23
Speaker 2: if he did, here's the question. If he did, he
35:28
Speaker 2: would have already done it. So until that debt is paid,
35:32
Speaker 2: he's going to owe it. Because you have an opportunity
35:37
Speaker 2: before the crime is committed to make this right. So
35:43
Speaker 2: this is an expensive lesson for him and understanding. And
35:47
Speaker 2: that's what happened with Wesley Snips, that's what happened with
35:53
Speaker 2: Lauren Hill. Everyone learned the expensive lesson of trusting other
35:57
Speaker 2: people with their with their money and their taxes. And
36:01
Speaker 2: what he's learned is the IRS doesn't take ile use
36:05
Speaker 2: because he was playing around with what he thought he
36:08
Speaker 2: could use as his money because it was his company,
36:13
Speaker 2: but it was entrusted to him to pay payroll taxes
36:18
Speaker 2: on behalf of his employees got it another stinoff show.
36:24
Speaker 2: He he'll be able to wipe this deck clean.
36:27
Speaker 1: Carlos King, I mean two point five million dollars paying
36:30
Speaker 1: that back. That's that has to be like a Love
36:32
Speaker 1: Island type of show, Baby, that big show in the land.
36:39
Speaker 1: And you know the husbands don't get paid on housewives.
36:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a trade secret that I don't think most
36:47
Speaker 2: people know.
36:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's the truth.
36:54
Speaker 1: All right, So listen, he is serving his time. He
36:58
Speaker 1: turned himself in in August first two weeks ago. Courtney,
37:05
Speaker 1: what word of advice do you have to business owners
37:09
Speaker 1: so that they won't end up in this same fate?
37:14
Speaker 2: I would say, don't borrow money you can't pay back,
37:16
Speaker 2: and never borrow from Uncle Sam. He doesn't forget and
37:20
Speaker 2: he definitely does not forgive.
37:25
Speaker 1: Good advice. No, because you know the cause you know
37:28
Speaker 1: it's a double talk, drove the whole life forgiving depth
37:31
Speaker 1: and like and forgiving the.
37:35
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, I got my little Kendrick mur.
37:42
Speaker 1: So, Sizza got it. Okay, work, but.
37:46
Speaker 2: No, in all true, like don't borrow money going into business.
37:52
Speaker 2: I would always also suggest it's okay to start small
37:58
Speaker 2: and stay small until you have some real understanding. I
38:03
Speaker 2: think where Peter started to get in trouble with Some
38:06
Speaker 2: people get a garner of success and then they want
38:10
Speaker 2: to expand and expand and expand. Like you're a business owner.
38:16
Speaker 2: You literally grew kingdom rain more so by morsel by morsel,
38:23
Speaker 2: until it becomes this wonderful cookie. I think when you
38:27
Speaker 2: sometimes step out of the rain the realm of what
38:31
Speaker 2: you actually know. It's hard to be the face of
38:34
Speaker 2: something too, like Peter was the face he was trying
38:37
Speaker 2: to function it. It's just just stay in your lane
38:41
Speaker 2: sometimes and understand that. Get you somebody that knows about money.
38:48
Speaker 2: As you grow, it's all a gamble, but it's worth
38:53
Speaker 2: it to either go get you, take you some classes
38:59
Speaker 2: so that you can understand basic bookkeeping. Keep your eye
39:02
Speaker 2: on it, but let somebody else who is in that lane,
39:06
Speaker 2: who has successfully been in charge of money for other businesses,
39:15
Speaker 2: handle it so that you can be unapologetically you.
39:20
Speaker 1: And there you have it. So in closing, that's the
39:25
Speaker 1: real reality where the bar taps close, but the consequences
39:30
Speaker 1: stay open. All right, Courtney Parker, that was a bar.
39:37
Speaker 1: Carlos King, Carlos minaj is when I go by, I
39:41
Speaker 1: am the son of Nikki NICKI said all of you,
39:47
Speaker 1: all my sons, and I say yes mother. But Courtney Parker,
39:52
Speaker 1: thank you for another one. I'll see you back next
39:54
Speaker 1: week for all new episodes of Reality Crime Story where
39:59
Speaker 1: we will die into another case that we will put
40:02
Speaker 1: to rest. Reality with the King is executive produced by
40:09
Speaker 1: me Carlos King, produced by Lizzie Nimitz, and a partnership
40:14
Speaker 1: with the Lack Effect Network. You can also find us
40:18
Speaker 1: on my YouTube channel at the Carlos King Underscore