The former licensee of the Dollhouse strip club in the Sydney suburb of Potts Point, has been handed a lifetime ban from the liquor industry for multiple licence breaches including allowing cocaine use and sexual activity between strippers and patrons.
The NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority described Ulysses Flevotomos’ offending as one of the worst records of non-compliance it has ever dealt with. The authority also fined Flevotomos $10,000 and banned him from being a close associate of any NSW liquor licensee for 10 years.
Authority chair Philip Crawford said Flevotomos was found to be “not fit or proper” to ever hold a liquor licence again, and has also been banned permanently from entering Dollhouse.
“Life bans are reserved for the most serious offending and this case clearly falls into that category,” Crawford said.
“As licensee, Mr Flevotomos showed a blatant disregard for the law by allowing a culture of indecent conduct and illegal drug use to thrive at the venue.”
In handing down its decision to ban Flevotomos for life the authority said: “The Authority considers that his extensive experience in the liquor industry underscores how the non-compliance arose from a conscious decision to pursue a high-risk mode of business, for financial gain. He was wilfully blind to the flagrant and ongoing non-compliance with the liquor legislation by his staff or agents.”
The penalty follows a complaint from NSW Police which details numerous serious liquor licence breaches between 2014 and 2017 when Flevotomos was licensee of the Kellett St venue.
In 2014, the venue changed its business model from the Iguana restaurant/nightclub to a strip club. Licence conditions banned physical contact between strippers and patrons, and required strippers to wear at least a g-string when not on stage.
CC-TV footage seized by police shows numerous instances of naked or near naked strippers and patrons engaging in sexual activity; the cameras also captured numerous instances of strippers and patrons snorting cocaine in private rooms. In some cases, the cocaine had been supplied to patrons by strippers or other staff.
Flevotomos has 11 court convictions for liquor licence breaches during his tenure as licensee of Dollhouse. The venue has not incurred any licence breaches since Flevotomos was replaced as licensee in 2017.
