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In 1990, the government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel for tax evasion but the federal government did not try to operate Mustang Ranch after it was seized in a bankruptcy proceeding in September 1990.
The Feds had planned to allow the business to keep going until the brothel could be sold at auction (a scheme that became the butt of numerous jokes on late-night TV as you can imagine), but a U.S. judge refused to let the bankruptcy trustee assume the Ranch’s business license. Instead, the IRS foreclosed on the property and auctioned it off a few months later, Nevada media reported.
Various sources persist in claiming that the IRS itself ran the brothel in the interim, but there is no available evidence to support that. In fact, two weeks after the government took possession of the Mustang Ranch, county commissioners banned prostitution there, saying they were tired of the “circus” surrounding the case, Nevada media reported.
The ban remained until the business reopened in December 1990 under “new” ownership (unbeknownst to officials at the time, the original owner, Joe Conforte, had repurchased the Ranch under an assumed name.
So, while it’s accurate enough to say that the federal government “owned” the Mustang Ranch for about three months in 1990, there is no proof that government officials tried to run the place - with taxpayer money - and failed.
Humps try a little fact checking.
The Feds had planned to allow the business to keep going until the brothel could be sold at auction (a scheme that became the butt of numerous jokes on late-night TV as you can imagine), but a U.S. judge refused to let the bankruptcy trustee assume the Ranch’s business license. Instead, the IRS foreclosed on the property and auctioned it off a few months later, Nevada media reported.
Various sources persist in claiming that the IRS itself ran the brothel in the interim, but there is no available evidence to support that. In fact, two weeks after the government took possession of the Mustang Ranch, county commissioners banned prostitution there, saying they were tired of the “circus” surrounding the case, Nevada media reported.
The ban remained until the business reopened in December 1990 under “new” ownership (unbeknownst to officials at the time, the original owner, Joe Conforte, had repurchased the Ranch under an assumed name.
So, while it’s accurate enough to say that the federal government “owned” the Mustang Ranch for about three months in 1990, there is no proof that government officials tried to run the place - with taxpayer money - and failed.
Humps try a little fact checking.
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