Agents shut down popular V-Live club over unpaid taxes

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Fox 26 was the only station there as state investigators and Houston police officers raided V-Live nightclub on Richmond Avenue Tuesday afternoon.

A super popular urban nightclub for the last three years drawing major celebrities to Houston. People like Drake, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Idris Elba, Floyd Mayweather, and even Lil Kim have all been spotted in the so called bikini bar.

That didn't matter to these state agents who seized more than $17,000 in cash from the nightclub's safe, according to a source.

The investigators from the state comptroller's office brought their own locksmith who opened the club's safe and then padlocked the doors once they examined the assets.

State officials say V-Live owes close to $200,000— $175,000 in sexually-oriented business fees and another $20,000 in state sales tax.

Chris Chizer was the manager at V-Live before this sign was posted saying the business and all assets have been seized.  He says in part the closure is about race.

"We became a popular urban club so the city and state targeted us for every little thing that we do," Chizer said.

The owner of V-Live Damon Cobbs says the success of the night club was both a blessing and a curse.

He says what brought so much negative light on his business was the recent assault and robbery of NBA legend Moses Malone's son at the club.

Several V-Live employees were arrested in the criminal case while Malone Jr. sued V-live in civil court.

In that lawsuit, Rockets star James Harden has been implicated. It says Malone Jr. was robbed and assaulted outside of V-Live because he criticized Harden on Facebook.

In the meantime, Cobbs also says he paid his fair share of fees and taxes to the state and city. He believes the $200,000 figure is inflated because of his club's popularity.

"There is no amount of money that can please the city," Cobbs said.