New York- A married business executive who dropped $241,000 during one wild night at Scores was an insatiable customer who hired a virtual harem of lap dancers, a strip club source told the Daily News yesterday.
Robert McCormick, 40, an Internet company CEO and Midwestern father of three girls, took over the exclusive President’s Club when he showed up with some cronies the night of Oct. 22, 2003, the source said.
In the mirrored room, popular with high rollers and celebrities, the stripper enthusiast demanded 10 dancers lavish him with attention at the eye-popping cost of $4,000 an hour.
When their time was up, McCormick insisted club managers bring more girls – and keep them coming.
“I need 10 more,” he would say after the hour’s entertainment was over, waving his arms like he was motioning a jumbo jet in for a landing, according to the source.
“This went on for numerous hours,” the insider said.
By the time McCormick left the East Side flesh emporium, he had run up a tab of nearly a quarter-million dollars on his no-limit corporate American Express card, Scores said.
McCormick and his company, St. Louis-based Savvis Communications, are now being sued by Amex because they refused to pay the bill – claiming the CEO was booby-trapped with overcharges.
Scores said yesterday it has documents to prove that McCormick authorized the charges and knew exactly what he was doing.
“We have signed waivers,” said club spokesman Lonnie Hanover, who read the forms to The News, but declined to turn over copies with the signature.
The waiver reads: “I am at Scores of my own free will. At the time of this transaction I am not drunk nor in any way impaired. I have not been coerced nor am I currently under any duress. I agree to pay any and all charges I have incurred as a result of my purchase of diamond dollars and/or food or beverages.”
Hanover also said that once a customer charges $10,000, his right index finger is fingerprinted and hourly calls are made to the credit card company for authorization.
Scores is under investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, which is probing allegations the club pads its bills.
The night after McCormick’s visit, a Bangladeshi businessman was billed for $129,626 at Scores – also running up his tab in the President’s Club.
The businessman, Tauhidul Chaudhury, has sued Scores; the suit is unresolved.
In the McCormick case, American Express also has named the club in the suit it filed this week, saying it should repay the $241,000 if it turns out the charges are fake.
Hanover said the club may sue Amex for damaging its reputation.