Fresh allegations against Chow brothers' clubs

  • Breaking
  • 09/04/2014

More concerns have been raised about the nature in which the two most dominant players in New Zealand's adult entertainment industry are running their business, and what happens behind closed doors.

Last night 3rd Degree revealed details of the high-stakes battle between New Zealand's two rival strip club owners, including more allegations of dodgy dealings behind the Chow brothers' sex empire.

John and Michael Chow are the highly successful owners of most of the country's strip clubs and brothels, including the Mermaid Bar and Splash Club in Auckland and Wellington.

"There were always cases where people were so drunk that they were being abusive to people and it goes unnoticed," says Emily*, who worked as a dancer at Mermaids in Auckland last year.

Her story is similar to many women who have worked in the Chow brothers' clubs.

Earlier this year rival Calendar Girls owner Jaqui Le Prou challenged the renewal of their liquor license at the High Court in Auckland. Ms Le Prou was unsuccessful, but that didn't stop two days of damning evidence from ex-employees.

"Majority of the managers there are really threatening with everything," Emily says. "They're pretty much just like, 'you play up, we'll fire you'."

Emily, who has no connection to Calendar Girls, says the managers at Mermaids hardly ever played by the books and employees felt threatened by the brothers.

"Everyone tried to behave their best."

Drugs and drink-spiking

One of the main concerns Emily had during her time at Mermaids was the number of patrons who would allegedly come into the club with drugs, or would spike the girls' drinks.

"Four times I saw girls get spiked by patrons, and every time the girl was always pretty bad, and we'd always want to call the ambulance, but we got told that if we did we'd get fired."

The Chows deny any case where dancers have allegedly had their drinks spiked. When asked what the process would be should that happen, John Chow told 3 News it would depend on the employee's contract.

On one occasion, Emily says she and a colleague had their drinks spiked by a patron with a grudge.

"I remember feeling really, really drunk really quickly and then blacking out for a bit," she recalls.

"Managers told me to get in the changing room and try to get woken up again pretty much.

"The girls were telling me that I was just lying in the shower."

Emily says she and the manager at the time filed reports the next day – which is the standard practice at the club. But she says once the report was filed, it was never seen again.

Alcohol and sexual assaults

Emily says drunk patrons were often a problem at the club, and dancers were encouraged to sell alcohol.

"At some points we'd get told to take certain customers outside for a cigarette because the cops don't check the smoking room."

Emily, like the women who gave evidence at the High Court hearing, says a lot of the dancers were often drunk as well – despite the Chow brothers saying they have a 'no alcohol' policy.

"If girls were really drunk sometimes they [managers] would tell you to go on a break if they knew that the cops were coming through, or they'd just tell you to stay in the dressing room and pretend you were doing your makeup.

"I know of a lot of cases where girls were so drunk they'd like fall off stage and stuff and everyone would think it was a big laugh."

Emily says the club's managers would sometimes throw drunk patrons out, but often that wasn't the case.

Alcohol and sexually charged men proved a dangerous cocktail for Emily, who recalls at least four occasions where she was nearly sexually assaulted.

"In a couple of cases I'd go downstairs and tell them (security), and the guy would just get told to leave instead of getting in trouble and I'd get told to go on a break to calm down. That was just how they dealt with it."

Emily says staff were "discouraged" from reporting such crimes to police, because she believes the club's managers "were scared of them finding out that they weren't running the place properly or that there were drugs on the site".

John and Michael Chow, of course, deny all allegations of illegal or improper behaviour in their clubs, and say everything is done by the books.

John Chow, who resides in Auckland, took 3 News on a tour of the Mermaid Bar, where he spends roughly every second day of the week to keep an eye on things.

He says it's important to look after his employees because "they are the business", and he has "nothing to hide".

While looking through the club, 3rd Degree noted that it appeared clean, including the bar, changing room and stage downstairs, as well as the private rooms upstairs.

Auckland police declined 3 News' request for an interview, but said in a statement:

"Police routinely conduct licence checks on licensed premises in the Auckland City District to monitor and enforce compliance under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012.

"If police locate a breach of the Act, police work with the licensee under a graduated response model to ensure compliance".

*Emily's name has been changed to protect her identity.

3 News

source: newshub archive