Strip Club Owner Filed Fraudulent Taxes For Years: Feds

HOMER GLEN, IL — The former operator of a Harvey strip club has been charged in federal court with assisting in the preparation and submission of false corporate income tax returns for six years, federal prosecutors announced.

Alicia Arnold, 51, faces six counts of willfully preparing and submitting false and fraudulent income tax returns, according to charges filed filed Feb. 5 in federal court in Chicago.

Arnold, formerly of Homer Glen, is accused of filing fraudulent tax returns from 2012 to 2017 while she operated an adult entertainment business called Arnie's Idle Hour at 14701 S. Wood St. in Harvey.

Each of the false tax returns substantially underreported the nightclub’s gross receipts and sales, according to the charging document.

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In October 2017, the nightclub was raided by federal and state law enforcement officers looking for evidence of sex crimes and tax fraud, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed 18 months later.

A manager cooperating with investigators alleged Mayor Eric Kellogg extorted a $3,000 monthly bribe from the owner in order for local police to allow prostitution in the club, later raising the demand to $6,000 a month.

Kellogg has not been charged with a crime in the case, in which his brother Rommell Kellogg and cousin Corey Johnson are awaiting trial on racketeering and conspiracy charges.

Arnold, who now lives in Las Vegas, pleaded not guilty Wednesday at an arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office release. She is due back in court for a status hearing March 3.

A status hearing in her case was set for March 3 at 10:30 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso.