Before permanently shutting down his Harbor East restaurant, Peter Thomas blamed Bar One’s problems on his employees, accusing them of stealing from the business. But according to court records filed this week, Thomas failed to pay more than $2.5 million in employment taxes withheld from his workers’ paychecks in Baltimore and beyond.
The restaurateur and former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” reality star has agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of failure to pay over trust fund taxes in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he operated a night club called ClubONE and another venue called Sports One Bar and Lounge.
According to a set of facts he did not dispute, Thomas collected over $640,000 in income, Social Security and Medicare taxes from employees’ paychecks at his restaurants in Charlotte between 2017 and 2022, and used the money to make cash withdrawals and pay for travel and real estate.
In addition, Thomas collected more than $1.1 million in taxes from employee wages at Bar One Miami Beach and Bar One Baltimore from 2021 to 2023, but he didn’t pay that money to the Internal Revenue Service.
Court documents state that he transferred nearly $3 million between his various enterprises. In a 2023 interview with The Baltimore Banner, Thomas admitted to using money from his restaurants outside of Maryland to cover the debts from Bar One Baltimore, saying: “We have to borrow from Paul to pay Peter.”
C. Melissa Owen, Thomas’ attorney, said her client will plead guilty next week. The maximum sentence for the charge is five years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release. Owen said she could not share the terms of the plea agreement, which is currently restricted.
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In a video posted Tuesday to Instagram, Thomas said he stopped paying withholding taxes as his businesses struggled. “It’s something that I thought I could work out, catch up on … but the hole got deeper for me,” he said. “I regret not paying my withholding taxes in a timely manner or in any manner.”
Thomas still owes money in Maryland. Last year, the state entered a lien of $355,722 against Bar One. There are several open lawsuits from vendors against him.
