CHICAGO — A Chicago-area strip club owner who stashed away $12 million in boxes and bags has admitted he didn't declare it to the Internal Revenue Service.
Michael Wellek came before a federal judge in Chicago on Friday. The 63-year-old pleaded guilty to failing to file a tax return for 2000 and obstructing the IRS.
Prosecutors say the owner of Heavenly Bodies in Elk Grove Village, Cowboys in Markham and Harvey's Skybox didn't pay income taxes for a decade although his clubs were profitable.
Two clubs generated $2 million for Wellek in 2000. But he reported making only $115,000.
Agents seized the $12 million from a warehouse in 2003. In 2004, Wellek sued in a failed bid to get it back.
Wellek faces a maximum six-year prison term. He'll be sentence Feb. 4.
