Poles apart
Partners at war in $izzling strip club fight
A CO-OWNER of a Queens strip club says his partner stiffed him on payments and failed to keep him abreast of finances, causing trouble for the jiggle joint, according to a new lawsuit.
Kabe Park claims his business partner Anastasios Tsementzis launched an “illegal and oppressive campaign” that has stripped him of any involvement at Scandals in Long Island City, according to the lawsuit filed Dec. 1 in Queens Supreme Court.
Employees were told Park is no longer involved with the club, creating a “hostile and oppressive business environment,” the suit claims.
Scandals, which closed temporarily last month after a stomach-churning Health Department inspection found sewage and flies in the kitchen, has suffered under its management, Park’s lawyer claims.
“Kabe really is a silent owner — not necessarily by choice, but by force,” lawyer James DiPasquale told the Daily News.
“(Tsementzis) has completely taken control of the business and gone silent.”
Park, of Astoria, bought half of TC Queens Entertainment Corp., the company that runs the lounge, in July 2015.
But since then, the partnership has soured.
Tsementzis, who lives in Huntington, L.I., has held meetings without him and failed to disclose all assets, the suit charges. He’s appointed himself the company’s president and has transferred cash out of the business account into his own pockets, according to the lawsuit.
He’s also stopped paying rent and sales tax, causing the club to fall nearly $160,000 into debt, the suit says.
Park is asking for at least $500,000 in damages from Tsementzis and demanding that he exit his top post in the corporation.
Tsementzis did not respond to multiple requests seeking comment, and a manager of the club said he was unable to reach him.
The suit is the latest drama for the gentlemen’s club, which moved to its current location in 2002 after a crackdown on strip joints forced it from its original home on Greenpoint Ave.
It was nearly squeezed out of its current Queens Plaza North location years later when the city began to step up enforcement of zoning laws that affect strip clubs.
Tsementzis sued the city in 2010, claiming New York City was making it harder for strip clubs to operate.
“If people want to get lap dances, they should be able to get lap dances,” his lawyer at the time told The News.
Scandals survived, but temporarily closed in 2015, reopening a year later under the same management.
It was again temporarily shuttered by the Health Department this year after racking up 95 violation points during a Nov. 1 inspection. The club’s food prep area had sewage or liquid waste and was covered in flies, an inspector found.