Manthos Papadopoulos did time for bribing a police officer in 1998.
asserted
Papadopoulos → do → 1998
In 2005, his sentence served, he was the subject of bankruptcy proceedings.
asserted
he → serve → proceedings
But Papadopoulos’ colourful legal history proved no impediment to his subsequently owning and operating two clubs, Sydney Elements and Showgirls, on the same Kings Cross stretch notorious for its history of sleaze, crime and brutality.
asserted
his → prove → sleaze
It took two alleged violent assaults on women working at his club, one of which involved alleged choking, another where he allegedly slapped his penis in the face of one of the women, as well as a separate alleged assault on a man who visited the club, before Papadopoulos was finally prohibited by authorities.
uncertain
Papadopoulos → take → authorities
Last week, the NSW Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal knocked back an application from the Cyprus-born 53-year-old to review a decision of the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority to slap him with a Long-Term Banning Order.
asserted
Tribunal → knock → Order
The order prevents him from entering “any high-risk venue in the Kings Cross and Sydney CBD entertainment precincts”.
asserted
order → prevent → precincts
Papadopoulos had provided the tribunal with supporting statements and affidavits from his wife, Liana Papadopoulos, his mother Cleopatra Papadopoulos and his son, Dimitrios Papadopoulos, as well as a letter from his accountant, Michael Angelopoulos.
asserted
Papadopoulos → provide → accountant
But none of it made a difference.
asserted
none → make → difference
Dr Tahlia Gordon, the Senior Tribunal member who heard the case, said she was satisfied “that if Mr Papadopoulos attended Sydney Elements or Showgirls, there is a sufficient risk that he could engage in trouble-making behaviour and cause a problem”.
uncertain
he → hear → problem
Such a ban presents a problem for a man who owns two Kings Cross strip clubs.
asserted
who → present → clubs
His wife told this masthead he is a good man, husband and father who is innocent.
asserted
who → tell → masthead
As Papadopoulos told the tribunal, through his barrister Greg James KC, a former judge, the ban prejudices his business interests and represents a restriction of his “fundamental rights”.
asserted
ban → tell → rights
The alleged assaults
It was Sydney Elements, which bills itself as “Sydney’s Premier Stripclub and Nightclub”, and where “VIP packages” start at $1000, where all the trouble started.
asserted
trouble → bill → 1000
On March 15, Papadopoulos was arrested and charged with seven offences which allegedly had taken place in and around the club, including the serious indictable charge of “intentionally choke a person without consent” involving a female employee of the club whom the married man appears to have been involved with.
uncertain
man → arrest → whom
Six days later, NSW Police informed Papadopoulos they would be applying to the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority for the ban order on him.
asserted
they → inform → him
Things got even worse for Papadopoulos on March 28, when he was charged with “assault occasioning actual bodily harm” in relation to an incident at Sydney Elements on March 10.
asserted
he → get → March
It is understood Papadopoulos will defend all the charges against him.
asserted
Papadopoulos → understand → him
Still, the accused nightclub owner told police they should drop the ban application.
asserted
they → accuse → application
He was entitled to the presumption of innocence.
asserted
He → entitle → innocence
He was “of good character with no prior convictions for matters of violence”, and his bail conditions did not prohibit him from going to Sydney Elements.
asserted
conditions → prohibit → Elements
In filing his application to reverse the ban, Papadopoulos said “the order has an immediate and substantial impact on my livelihood”.
asserted
order → file → livelihood
The tribunal’s decision, handed down last week, contains extraordinary detail about the apparent operation of the club and the alleged violence at least two of its employees had been subjected to.
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two → hand → employees
It also raises questions about the safety of strip club workers in a red-light district that has been somewhat cleaned up over the past decade.
asserted
that → raise → decade
According to police facts, on September 29, 2025, the accused and “Victim 1”, a female employee of the club, were in a private room at Sydney Elements with about 10 other staff members.
uncertain
accused → accord → members
It was 3am and Victim 1 was “highly intoxicated and lying on the ground” when, according to police, the accused kneeled next to her, pulled his penis from his pants and “used his penis to slap the side of Victim 1’s face”.
A short time later, police say, Victim 1 was with Papadopoulos at his nearby Potts Point residence, when he told her that “multiple staff members had been traumatised by what happened earlier at Sydney Elements”.
According to police, “Victim 1 was confused as she did not remember what had happened, and the accused stated, ‘It was probably because I put my penis in your face’.”
Embarrassed, Victim 1 wanted to leave the apartment, but Papadopoulos told her if she left, he would kill her.
uncertain
he → lie → her
Cut to 2am on January 9 this year, when Papadopoulos and Victim 1 were behind the main bar at Sydney Elements.
asserted
Papadopoulos → cut → Elements
They argued, and he allegedly placed his left hand on her head, grabbed a handful of her hair, and yanked her from the chair, snapping her head back with the force of the pull.
uncertain
he → argue → pull
Papadopoulos then allegedly grabbed Victim 1 under her armpits and pulled her away from the bar.
uncertain
Papadopoulos → grab → bar
The whole thing was captured on CCTV but the accused later told police the footage was “AI-generated and a conspiracy”.
asserted
footage → capture → police
A short time later, another assault is alleged to have occurred when Papadopoulos dragged Victim 1 and another employee, Victim 2, to the basement of the club.
asserted
Papadopoulos → allege → club
Victim 1 tried to leave, but he grabbed her and pinned her arms behind her back, while pushing her into an office.
asserted
he → try → office
When Victim 2 tried to intervene, Papadopoulos placed his hand around her throat and moved her away.
asserted
Papadopoulos → try → her
This alleged assault was also captured on CCTV.
asserted
assault → allege → CCTV
Yet more alleged violence was to come.
asserted
violence → allege → ?
At about 2am on March 9, Victim 1 was again at the accused’s Potts Point home, lying next to him in bed, when he straddled her and placed his hands around her neck, restricting her breathing.
asserted
he → accuse → breathing
He stopped, only to go through her phone to find evidence of her cheating on him.
asserted
her → stop → him
She later took a photograph of her bruised neck.
asserted
She → take → neck
Things came to a head on March 11, at about 9.30 pm, when Victim 1 and Papadopoulos began arguing while together at Sydney Elements.
asserted
Victim → come → Elements
She told him she was going to quit on the spot, which allegedly made Papadopoulos angry, and he allegedly pushed her face with force, then grabbed her by the neck and pinned her against a wall, holding her there for about a minute.
uncertain
he → tell → minute
He took her phone and locked it in a safe, police allege.
asserted
police → take → safe
…and 49 more, not listed.
The Aporia
