The owner of Los Angeles’s most infamous strip club is being sued over an alleged “fraudulent bait-and-switch” scheme he used to seize control of two rival clubs — which reads like an episode of HBO’s “Euphoria”.
Craig Franze, the owner of The Body Shop in West Hollywood, then used the profits to fund a lavish lifestyle, with luxury cars, expensive jewelry and a $30,000-a-month rental property, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Franze’s former “best friend,” Bare Elegance strip club owner Mike Galam, and son Johnathan, filed the suit, which also levels accusations of sex trafficking, illegal alcohol and drug sales, and high-stakes underground poker games involving millions of dollars against the strip club owner and a man named Archie Donovan.
For those not familiar with the latest season of Euphoria, one plot theme centers around a power struggle between a ruthless strip club owner, Alamo Brown, played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and a violent gang of drug dealers, ran by Laurie, who is played by Martha Kelly.
The alleged “bait-and-switch” scheme centers around a $2.9 million payment from the Galams to Franze to take control of two gentlemen’s clubs — 4 Play and Plan B. They allege Franze then signed the ownership of the clubs over to his own companies — locking the father and son out and keeping the cash.
The lawsuit further alleges Franze and Donovan then drained the two clubs of profits and corporate assets.
Franz told The Post the allegations contained in Galam’s complaint were not only false, but an extortion attempt.
“Importantly, the complaint is unsupported by evidence and is unverified. Galam owes my partner and I millions of dollars and has a long trail of many more millions he owes others. We are in the process of filing our own complaint, which sets forth the actual facts, includes substantial supporting evidence, and will be verified,” he said.
When asked for comment, Galam told The Post “the complaint speaks for itself.”
Galam, who owns the Bare Elegance adult entertainment club, had previously been pals with Franze for more than 12 years — and were “once best friends” per the lawsuit.
Franze had apparently fallen on hard times and moved in with Galam in LA during the pandemic. He then began making cash running “underground poker games,” the suit states.
Philip Wiszowaty, who goes by Dazo, told The Post he played in several of the underground poker games hosted by Franze, and was allegedly short-changed of high stakes winnings.
“I played in Craig’s games hosted with Michael ‘Meatball’ Morton for four weeks,” he said.
“I actually cashed out $820,000 chips and took a picture of my chips before going to sleep. The next day, Craig [Franze] and Meatball insisted it was only $680,000 despite my picture showing them otherwise.”
Dazo claims on a separate night, when he was playing at a full table that featured NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce, he won $1.2 million, but was only paid out less than half.
Dazo told The Post that Franze will “act like your best friend and then turn around and stab you in the back, like he has done to Mike Galam, me, and other instances I’m aware of.”
“When you complain, they’ll threaten you and try to intimidate you,” he added.
Galam also alleges that when Franze worked at the Bare Elegance club as a manager, he was “systematically embezzling” funds estimated to be over $1 million to finance his lavish lifestyle.
“This included using embezzled money to purchase an expensive Rolls-Royce for himself as well as a Maybach and a Corvette for his wife along with over a half dozen other vehicles,” the lawsuit reads. “Once Franze took over the 4Play and Plan B and started siphoning money from these clubs as well, his lavish personal spending skyrocketed.”
Franze allegedly used the funds to purchase a Corvette, a $150,000 diamond ring for his wife and nearly $18,000 in jewelry for his girlfriends, as well as renting a $30,000 per month home in Encino, California.
The lawsuit seeks to turnover ownership of Franze’s clubs to Galam.