Local Pub Remains Open Despite Legal Turmoil

City officials say lawsuits alleging fraud against a co-owner of in Agoura Hills should not affect the pub’s conditional use permit to do business in the city.

The Irish pub and restaurant at 30315 Canwood St. replaced the Rockin’ Steakhouse in the Reyes Adobe Plaza in March 2010. City records list Carlos Orozco as the registered business owner, although Lloyd J. Michaelson, a Westlake Village lawyer, is the co-owner being sued. He faces charges alongside American Paramount Financial, Inc. owner Nicholas Skultety in multiple states.

An article that appeared Jan. 27 in the Ventura County Reporter, "A Paramount Problem," stated that Skultety and Michaelson as his legal advisor are being accused of promising to fund a variety of construction projects, asking for upfront fees, never delivering on the loans, and spending those funds for personal enrichment.

Skultety confirms Michaelson as part owner of Pikeys in the article, which also include American Paramount Financial bank statements showing that Skultety sank thousands of dollars into the pub. In a quote, Skultety refers to himself as “the inspiration for the bar.”

Anne Singer, a lawyer in Westlake Village who previously represented a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Skultety and Michaelson, said she notified the F.B.I. one year ago. Over a seven or eight month period, Singer believes the two may have amassed as much as $10 million.

Singer said in an e-mail response to a Patch inquiry:

“We believe that monies stolen from multiple victims has gone into Pikeys Pub. We have bank records to show that American Paramount funds were used to purchase the bar, as well as to buy liquor, decorate the place, and even buy the kilts that are worn by the waitresses. The bar known as the Orleans (Agoura) is owned in the same way by the same people.”

Orleans will replace the former Chapter 8 Steakhouse and Dance Lounge at 29020 Agoura Rd.

When asked if a conviction of the two men could result in the city revoking the permits for these bars, Agoura Hills City Manager Greg Ramirez said, “The CUP (conditional use permit) is separate and apart from someone’s legal issues. However, if what they are doing, or have done, somehow violates the ‘conditions’ stipulated in the permit, the city could then reconsider the permit.”

Assistant City Manager Nathan Hamburger confirmed that assessment. “I don’t see anything that if he is convicted, his CUP would be affected,” said Hamburger in an e-mail to Patch. “The court or some other enforcement agency may prevent an individual from owning a business, or some other terms of a punishment, but that directive wouldn’t come from the city."

Singer said she believes the two defendants will be proven guilty. “The FBI is investigating, and I have no doubt that these guys are not going to get away with what they have done," Singer said. "It seems obvious that the monies stolen have been put into the bars that they are purchasing. We are still connecting the dots."

Patch spoke with two managers at Pikeys who declined to comment on the situation.