Las Vegas Weekly

July 24, 2009 · 9:32 AM

Closing of Prive and Living Room is only the tip of the iceberg

By Robin Leach

Kelly Monaco of Peepshow celebrates her 33rd birthday with friends at Prive in Planet Hollywood.

Photo: Ash Hopkins

It’s only the tip of the iceberg! That’s according to investigators who have been undercover in nightclubs over recent weeks when the bombshell dropped yesterday that Prive and its Living Room ultra lounge in Planet Hollywood will shut down next week now that their liquor licenses have been yanked.

I’m reliably told that at least three other nightclubs and pool party action spots are on the radar with serious continuing investigations. Some of the facts coming to light are, quite frankly, horrifying and could really give our desert kingdom a really disturbing black eye for years to come.

Click HERE for the Las Vegas Sun’s up-to-date coverage of the rulings and fines. Vegas DeLuxe readers were prepared for this because a little over two months ago on this Web site, we reported on several nightclub shake-ups and explosions between hotel owners and independent operators over the growing problems with patrons. We even reported that one hotel owner had his hotel security throw out hundreds of patrons fighting to get inside one nightspot and another story of a nightclub operator telling his hotel property owner to pay him $40 million cash and he’d relinquish ownership and management control!

I heard that at one hot-action spot, there have been allegedly four separate near-death incidents involving drugs -- and in one instance a well-known figure who was described as collapsing from dehydration was in fact hospitalized for several days afterwards rumored to be suffering from the after effects of Ecstasy! Security staff has confiscated dozens of drugs while inspecting handbags.

The four areas that hotel security has to guard against even though they don’t manage or operate the nightclubs are 1) drugs, 2) sexual activities involving not only topless women but also couples cavorting in pools and dark club corners, 3) rampant use of fake IDs by underage girls, and 4) worst of all, the system of dumping drunk or drugged patrons out of the clubs and into taxis, casinos or back alleys, leaving it to other security forces to handle.

Clark County health and fire departments also have allegedly been involved, and rumors are that at least two pool parties were halted mid-way, shut down and closed in order to empty, clean and refill to return water standards to normal.

I confirmed last night that already one major hotel property with two nightclub and lounge operations run by others has moved uniformed security guards inside to monitor the nightlife operations to ensure and enforce compliance with gaming and liquor regulations.

This story has only just begun to break wide open with yesterday’s alarming revelations, and we’re still waiting for the results of the year-old IRS investigation after its raid of Pure in Caesars Palace over alleged unreported tip income and tax evasion allegations.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter HERE.

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