Ryan Razer over at www.lukeford.com went Googling and found some startling facts about Spearmint Rhino’s John Gray. Gray, it seems, has a very colorful past.

Here’s the first story from The Independent in 2002:

UK- John Gray pretty much has it all. Cars, cash, planes and girls – especially girls. His Spearmint Rhino table dancing empire has made him wealthy. And he plans to have even more, to expand his empire from six clubs to 100. Now those plans are in doubt, after an Independent on Sunday investigation revealed that Mr Gray has not disclosed that he served a jail sentence for fraud.

Mr Gray, 45, originally from California, has two convictions and served time in his home state. Questioned last Thursday night about the jail sentence, Mr Gray flatly denied that he had any convictions for anything: “I’ve never been convicted of fraud.”

However, after the IoS produced court documents Mr Gray changed his story, saying: “I was caught off guard.” Adding that he now wished to be “candid”, Mr Gray admitted to the convictions and apologised for his past.

Licensing authorities in Camden, where the European headquarters of the chain is based, may now re-examine its entertainment licence. The convictions were not known to Camden at the time the original licence was granted.

Spearmint Rhino’s flagship club in Tottenham Court Road features nude girls who dance around poles or for clients at their tables. The club also has a number of booths where clients can ask girls for a private dance.

Mr Gray used several aliases in the United States, including Johnny Win, John Luciano and John Luciano Gianni. He refused to comment last week when asked about the names.

Spearmint Rhino has been a hit with City firms where prestigious clients have office parties at the club. On the back of his success, Mr Gray has just bought a mansion in Buckinghamshire for more than pounds 1m. He owns two Mercedes, a Cessna 421 plane and boasts ownership of a Gulfstream G4 private jet and a 55-ft boat. He says his personal wealth here is around $2m (pounds 1.25m).

Mr Gray started out running a building firm, Grayco Construction, in California. He got into the table-dancing business after opening a string of Peppermint Elephant restaurants across the state and later giving them the even more unlikely Spearmint Rhino branding. There are even rumours that he plans to float his company on the London stock exchange.

The disclosure of his convictions may prove a major setback. Councillor Ernest James, a barrister and former chairman of Camden Council’s licensing committee, said: “I believe there are grounds for a major re-examination of Spearmint Rhino’s licence in the light of these disclosures.”

Mr Gray is the sole director of Spearmint Rhino Companies (Europe) Ltd, which holds the public entertainment licence from Camden. His date of birth is incorrectly given in Companies House records as 2 May 1957. Mr Gray, whose birthday was on Friday, told us yesterday that it was a clerical error that will be rectified. He added that the mistake arose from the way Americans write dates.

However, Mr James said: “If he has given inaccurate particulars, and in this case material particulars – because the police do checks based on the date of birth – then there is a question of whether the licence is voided.”

A spokesman for Camden Council said: “The mistake might be relevant, especially regarding police checks. We don’t know whether the police have checked Mr Gray. But they raised no objection at the original licensing hearing. But we would be interested to know and may well raise it with the police.”

On Mr Gray’s convictions, he added: “That may be material. We need to know more about the exact nature of the offences.”

In August 1995, Mr Gray, then described as the owner of a Spearmint Rhino topless bar near Los Angeles, was arrested after 10 complaints that he had written cheques that bounced. As a result, Mr Gray was facing a potential five-year sentence. However, after plea bargaining, he was sentenced to six months in jail.

At the time of his sentencing, Mr Gray was already in a federal prison for an unrelated case of making a false statement to win a contract from the US Navy.

Mr Gray told the IoS that his financial problems arose following the illness and death of his father and problems from his father’s construction firm. “I am ashamed of what I have done and I have paid my debt to society,” he said. “I would not do it again and I have not erred since.”

The club has had a number of recent setbacks. Two weeks ago, a waitress from the Tottenham Court Road club won pounds 60,000 in a sex discrimination case. The pregnant Miss Samantha McGaw, 27, wanted to wear a less revealing outfit at the club but bosses refused. She claimed that dancers were referred to by male colleagues as “mingers” and “wildebeest” and that managers allegedly used weekly planning meetings to discuss whom they would like to sleep with.

In July last year, Camden police said that, in their view, “activity within the club, intentionally or otherwise, borders on offences of prostitution and permitting the keeping of a brothel”.

……..

Las Vegas Review Journal, Marc, 2002: Although it is listed on the company’s Web site as one of several Spearmint Rhino clubs, the Las Vegas cabaret is officially not owned by Gray, but by local attorney Kevin Kelly, Gray’s long-time partner Thomas Nabarrette, and Mumtaz Ali. When asked about the ownership issue, and the fact the Las Vegas club was listed on the Gray-owned company Web site, Kelly said it was possible Nabarrette had worked out an agreement with his friend to advertise the club on the Internet.

Makes sense, but it doesn’t exactly explain why the only reference to the topless company on the secretary of state’s Web site lists Gray as secretary and treasurer of The Spearmint Rhino Worldwide Inc. The Las Vegas club is owned by K-Kel Inc., which lists Kelly and Ali as officers, but not Nabarrette.

No matter. The Las Vegas Spearmint Rhino officially is not owned by Gray. Which is probably a good thing considering Gray’s controversial past, which was recently profiled by reporters Adrian Gatton and Paul Lashmar in the Independent newspaper of London.

The story caught the topless entrepreneur attempting to rewrite his personal history. In the Feb. 17 article, Gray was quoted briefly denying his criminal past — he has a couple convictions in California for making a false statement to win a military contract and bouncing checks — before fessing up to reporters. The boss also failed to explain why he once used several aliases, including Johnny Win, John Luciano, and John Luciano Gianni.

Gray served six months in jail, according to the newspaper