Real Housewives of Atlanta star charged in Charlotte for failing to pay millions in taxes
Peter Thomas, a former Real Housewives of Atlanta star, is facing felony charges for spending $2.5 million withheld from employees’ paychecks at his Charlotte, Miami and Baltimore sports bars.
Thomas — who was married until 2017 to Cynthia Bailey, another star of the Bravo reality show — made “all business decisions” for two Charlotte bars, and he used the unpaid taxes to travel and buy real estate, according to documents filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
A sealed plea agreement was also filed Monday, and the 63-year-old will have a hearing in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Rodriguez later this week.
In Charlotte from 2017 to 2022, ClubONE and Sports One Bar and Lounge collected more than $640,000 in trust fund taxes — or income taxes, social security taxes and Medicare taxes — that employers withhold from employee wages until they are paid to the Internal Revenue Service. None of it made it to the Treasury Department, according to court documents.
In a video posted to social media Monday, Thomas said the case has been going on for more than two years and apologized to his family and friends.
“It’s something I thought I could catch up on, but the hole got deeper,” he said. “I’ve did some wrong that I have to make right... I deeply regret not paying my IRS withholding tax in a timely manner or in any manner... no excuses.”
ClubONE, once located near the Avidxchange Music Factory on North Carolina Music Factory Boulevard, closed in 2019 — two years after the North Carolina Secretary of State dissolved it in 2017 for failing to file a 2016 report. Bazal Gallery Lounge now occupies the building.
Sports One Bar and Lounge, located in uptown on North College Street, closed in 2022 — four years after the state dissolved it in 2018 for failing to file a 2017 report. It still operates under the same name.
Thomas’ Bar One locations in Miami and Baltimore collected more than $1.1 million in trust fund taxes and contributed to the $2.5 million that Thomas is accused of spending.
