New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Former strip club owner explains $87K check from reputed mobster
BRIDGEPORT — The former president of a Milford strip club told a judge that an $87,000 check he cashed from a reputed mobster months before he declared bankruptcy is a “red herring” that does not require more investigation.
But the judge disagreed Tuesday during a hearing in federal court, granting a request from a Department of Justice lawyer for more time to gather information and evidence in the case of Joseph Regensburger, who ran Keepers Gentlemen’s Club on Woodmont Road when it lost a lawsuit from six exotic dancers saying they were not paid a minimum wage or for overtime.
Soon after losing the case, Regensburger filed for bankruptcy in federal court. There, a lawyer representing the dancers said bank documents he subpoenaed show Regensburger cashed thousands of dollars in checks signed by Gus Curcio, a former reputed mobster involved with the club, from a limited liability company he controls.
The checks totaled “well over $100,000” within the one-year look-back period afforded to authorities in bankruptcy cases to research a debtor’s assets, according to a filing from Holley L. Claiborne, a federal lawyer representing the United States Trustee, which oversees bankruptcy cases.
In his own filing, Regensburger said that at least one of the checks he signed — dated June 11, 2020, and made out to “Cash” for $87,000 — is a “red herring.”
That’s because Regensburger said the funds from the check, from the Curciolinked LLC called Majestic Management, “were immediately deposited” at the same bank to an account for a different LLC connected to Curcio, Millennium Group Management.
Regensburger described himself as a “runner” for the companies.
“The (United States Trustee) does not need additional time to investigate anything in order to file a motion to dismiss or an objection to a discharge,” Regensburger wrote to the court Jan. 12.
Claiborne did not comment on Regensburger’s explanation at Tuesday’s hearing, but asked Judge Julie Manning for more time to gather information.
“The U.S. Trustee believes it’s appropriate for questions to be asked of Mr. Regensburger and answers to be acquired about what happened to those monies and what were the purpose of those cashed checks,” she said. “We need some time to investigate that.”
Asked by the judge why he objected to Claiborne’s request, Regensburger said, “I think this has been going on for a long time.”
He referenced his written objection but said he didn’t remember what he had written in it.
So the judge read it back to him, noting that in his filing he said he can’t afford a lawyer and is “at a complete loss as to how to proceed.”
“When you file a (bankruptcy) case, unfortunately, you are submitting yourself to this court and to actions that other parties can take under the bankruptcy code,” Manning told Regensburger. “One of the things creditors are entitled to do under the bankruptcy code is seek objection to the discharge of a debtor.”
The judge noted that the information about the checks made out to cash only came to light recently.
“Because they just discovered this information, they have a right to explore it a little bit,” she said, noting that if the U.S. Trustee files a complaint in the case, the burden will be on them to prove any allegations they
“The U.S. Trustee believes it’s appropriate for questions to be asked of Mr. Regensburger and answers to be acquired about what happened to those monies and what were the purpose of those cashed checks. We need some time to investigate that.”
Holley L. Claiborne, a federal lawyer representing the United States Trustee
make.
“Unfortunately we’re still at a point where the scales tip more in favor of the U.S. Trustee than they do of you right now with regard to this information,” Manning said, announcing she would be continuing the case to April. “I’m going to grant their motion over your objection and we’ll see what happens.”
Kenneth Krayeske, a lawyer representing the dancers, said he has a deposition of Regensburger scheduled for Feb. 9 in Bridgeport. A March 8 hearing is also scheduled in the bankruptcy case.
He told the judge he appreciated her extending the case after saying he was “extraordinarily confused” by Regensburger’s explanation.
“For the life of me I don’t understand why you would negotiate a check to cash and then immediately deposit it at the same bank in the account of a company that is at the same bank,” he said. “Instead of making the check out to cash, why didn’t they make out the check to Millennium Group Management and just have Mr. Regensburger deposit it? It baffles the imagination as to why they would do that.”