Former Real Housewives of Atlanta star Cynthia Bailey's ex-husband, Peter Thomas, is facing up to five years in prison after being accused of failing to pay over $2.5 million in employment taxes, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Thomas, who owned and operated several nightclubs and lounges, including Club One in Charlotte, North Carolina, and two Bar One locations in Miami Beach and Baltimore, allegedly collected nearly $2 million in trust fund taxes from the wages of his employees but didn't turn them over to the Internal Revenue Service.
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, "between 2021 and 2023, Thomas caused Bar One Miami Beach LLC and Bar One Baltimore to collect more than $1.1 million in trust fund taxes from the wages of their employees, but Thomas did not pay over these taxes to the IRS."
The prosecutors claimed that “in total, between 2017 and 2023, Thomas caused [his various businesses] to fail to pay over more than $2.5 million in employment taxes, including more than $1,740,000 in trust fund taxes from the wages of" his employees.
"Instead of paying the trust fund taxes that were due," Thomas allegedly used the money for "cash withdrawals, travel, real estate purchases, and retail purchases."
Thomas was hit with one count of failure to pay trust fund taxes and faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. A plea agreement submitted to the court was placed under seal, although a judge has yet to approve.
Thomas addressed the allegations in a statement posted to social media on Tuesday, apologizing to his family and friends. “I’ve done some wrong that I have to make right. I have to stand up, I have to be accountable, I have to be responsible, and I have to pay my debt,” Thomas said.
"This is something that I thought I could work out, catch up on, make whole, but the hole got deeper for me. I deeply regret, and I'm saying this with all sincerity, not to make the IRS withholding tax a priority in my life. With no excuses, because there is none. It's the law."
Thomas was recently ordered to pay $9 million after the landlord of his now-closed Bar One Miami Beach evicted and sued him over unpaid rent and other fees.
In 2022, he was accused of owing $450,000 in back taxes for his Uptown Restaurant & Lounge between 2008 and 2009.
