Danbury’s Ian Bick Discusses His Crimes on Local Radio Show

Ian Bick is a Danbury native who has become quite infamous in the Hat City. At 19 years of age, Bick was the owner/operator of Tuxedo Junction.

By the time he was 21 years old, Ian Bick was a felon. He was convicted of wire fraud and money laundering in 2016, he served time in federal prison and was released in 2019.

Prosecutors say Bick lured in local investors and ended up using their money to pay for his lavish lifestyle rather than using it for concert promotion at Tuxdeo Junction. He later covered losses with new investment dollars.

Bick has been on a promotional tour for an upcoming documentary series called "Generation Hustle."

Bick's rise and fall will be the subject of one the 10 episodes of the true crime TV series coming to HBO Max. There are a lot of rumors and speculation that surround Bick and, as he enters a new phase of his life we wanted to see if we could clear some of that up.

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Bick joined the Ethan and Lou Show on Friday morning (4/16/21) to discuss his crimes, the documentary and how he plans to make amends to his victims and the community. This is a transcript, of a portion of that interview.

Lou Milano: "So, you and I have been communicating over the last couple days, um let's just break down what we know to be fact and see what first of all, you'll admit to. In 2016, you were convicted of what?"

Ian Bick: "Well, so actually the trial was in 2015 and in November of 2015 I was convicted of money laundering and wire fraud, those are the two counts and there was multiple counts."

Lou Milano: "Based on what we saw in the teaser of the documentary, you, it sounds like you are saying, you didn't know you were committing a crime."

Ian Bick: "So, at first, when I first started out, I wasn't aware I was committing a crime and I didn't attend to commit a crime but as the story develops, then, and as I kind of see everything going on, it's pretty clear that there's fraudulent behavior and crimes being committed. And there's even crimes that were never, that never even came out, that were kind of all lumped in together with it."

Lou Milano: "Your victims are local people. This is kind of where I have the problem with this and you, I hope you'll understand our dilemma. So, it's highly likely, you know we are a very popular radio station, that someone who has listened to us for years and has been loyal to us, now has to listen to you promote a documentary about what went on and you took their money and spent it, on yourself. What am I supposed to say to those people?"

Ian Bick: "Um, I think uh, you know I think there is a couple of different things about this. I think one, this is a good opportunity for me to be able to payback all of the money owed, faster. Not specifically from this documentary, um but what this documentary can lead to. It will open a lot of doors and be a much faster route of paying people back, than say me working a job and paying a monthly amount."

Lou Milano: "You, in the new, News Times article, you talked about, and I'm paraphrasing, that you were cocky back then. A lot of the mail we've gotten on the article that I wrote about you, um, well it's not been kind. Put it that way, a lot of name calling but I get the sense that people do not perceive you as feeling any remorse for your crimes."

Ian Bick: "I think people that say that, they don't really know me personally. I think if you talk to someone that knows me, that either works with me or that's friends with me, um, they would know how bad I feel about the whole situation, uh and everything that I went through and the pain and suffering on all parties from the victims to me, to people that were kind of just caught in between. Uh, but I look at the whole thing now, now that we're years past it, as a really big learning experience and I would never make those same mistakes again."

Lou Milano: "How, is that structured? So, the court tells you, you have to pay back, how much money in question, $500,000, is that an accurate number?"

Ian Bick: "So, it's not even $500,000. I think it comes out to four seventy or four eighty and the part that the News Times never really got into was that I had partners. Um, they, it wasn't just me, you know there was multiple people involved and one of the partners you would think it would be like a fair split but he was only ordered to pay like $30,000 of it and I got stuck with the, uh, the rest. Uh, but yeah it's about four hundred seventy thousand."

Lou Milano: "Let's talk about the News Times for a second because I told you I'd be fair, I told you I'm not a D word, right? I said those things to you?"

Ian Bick: "Yeah."

Lou Milano: "I said that uh, you know, we're going to say things that maybe you don't like but it's not because we are nasty. I do believe in second chances but what I don't believe in, is kind of like, going around and pointing out what others did when we are talking about you. And, you and I had a conversation about the News Times and you brought them up again where you are saying they got things wrong. What does that really matter in the general scheme? Your reputation still would have been smeared, because I get this sense, that you think that you are smarter than everyone."

Ian Bick: "No, I wouldn't say that. I think it's just, I think people would understand the story a little bit better, had the timeline been correct. Um, and um, I think they would have seen like, like Tuxedo Junction, what it stood for, it wasn't just like some kid that stole money from people and used those funds to own this nightclub. Which a lot of the smearing comes from as well, from a different point of view, um, and I think they would see a kind of like, as a last ditch effort, like Tuxedo Junction, it was blood, sweat and tears to make it work. And it wasn't anywhere near what had happened, like the year prior where all the main fraud had taken place."

Lou Milano: "Ian Bick joining the show, former owner of Tuxedo Junction. We didn't really get to the, the payment, how did they, how did the court tell you, you have to? We talked about the split and you don't think that's fair, how did the court tell you you have to pay it back?"

Ian Bick: "I'm not saying it's not fair because it is what it is but, um, the court says that it, so I was ordered to pay a thousand dollars per month but that's based on your income and like your living, I'd be paying a thousand dollars if say I was living with my parents at home. Um, or I didn't have any expenses, uh but I can tell you right now I'm averaging about three hundred to four hundred dollars a month and that's continuing to increase."

Lou Milano: "Are you a part of a book, writing a book right now?"

Ian Bick: "Um, so originally when I first got out and while I was in prison I was focused on writing a book, that kind of died out, um but now it's starting back up again, now, with this documentary series coming out. So, things are in the works and I imagine some things will happen this year."

Lou Milano: "So, what your basically saying is, between the book and the documentary and all these projects, you can make the money back to make your victims whole, faster, right?"

Ian Bick: "From the documentary, no. I don't get paid from that but from the promotion from that, then yes, yes, eventually whatever that leads to. Whether it's a TV series or a movie or something along those lines."

Lou Milano: "Let's talk about Tuxedo Junction for a second because you hijacked the legacy and I eluded to this in my article but, I mean you owned it for what two years and change?"

Ian Bick: "Yeah, yeah."

Lou Milano: "And, it opened in 1985, so people like me, all different, you know we are talking decades here. So, young people went there to cut loose and blow off steam and all of us have memories, stories, it's a famous club that hosted tons of national acts and now when it comes up, your name is the first thing that comes up. Do you feel like you tarnished the legacy of the place?"

Ian Bick: "I don't think I tarnished it, I think I created a new legacy for it, for my generation. Um, I think if your someone my age that understood the acts that I was able to bring in, then it's the same way that you look at Tuxedo Junction from the 1980's or 90's or early 2000's. So, it's just two different generations."

Lou Milano: "Did fraud take place, um, on Tuxedo Junction property? Using the company you owned to run Tuxedo Junction?"

Ian Bick: "No, there was no fraud involved with Tuxedo Junction, it was a 100% legitimate business. Uh, the only crime that involved Tuxedo Junction would have been like, underage selling of liquor, or um, anything related to maybe like, local taxes or anything like that or Fire Marshall capacities. Uh, which is something like regular business with these nightclubs happen."

Lou Milano: "Yeah there's a lot of stories, listen, you know, mentioning your name, writing the article, bringing this up, promoting it, there have been, you've got a long road ahead of you. I wish you well but there are people, and obviously I can't say their names because they don't want to attach their names to this. But, there are people, lining up to tell me stories about you that are not so great, that don't paint you in the best light. And, how do you feel knowing and when I say there are people lining up, we just had you agree to, what two three days ago that you would do this? In that time period, I've had no less than ten people contact me with negative stories about you as a person. There was name calling, there were things that they told me that obviously I cannot say but how does that make you feel?"

Ian Bick: "Honestly, I think that that's fair. You know, if I was them and the roles were reversed, I'd be doing the same thing. Um, I'd love, this is why I did the HBO documentary because I'm in a position now where I can put all the dirty laundry out on the table, I can talk about everything freely and now, I'm not that person. You're not going to see an article come up that says Ian Bick is defrauding investors again, like what you would see four year ago while everything was going on. I have a fresh start, there's a lot of time, time kind of heals a lot of things and there's a big gap of time. And, now it's on me, the spotlight is on me to kind of show that I've redeemed myself. I'm a changed person and I'm trying to make things right. And I think people, to some degree should kind of just see everything unravel, watch the documentary, see all sides to the story and then form an opinion on that."

Lou Milano (interrupts): "I agree that time heals all things and, but I would say there will be people who will make the case that you are picking at a scab here by, and you mentioned it earlier, you think you can pay the money back faster doing these types of projects. But, what if people want, you know your victims or anyone effected by this, would rather see you work a hard job to pay the money back rather than, you know do a documentary or write a book."

Ian Bick: "I don't think anyone wants to see that, I think people wanted to, a lot of these people were my friends. People that lost money that I still talk to, today, I'm friendly with the majority of them. Um, and I think that, they, at the end of the day, people just want their money back or would hope to get their money back. I don't think it matters really, what degree. You know, I did my time, I went to prison, I had a lot of suffering, even running Tuxedo's was a lot of suffering. And, I still suffered for many years after that, um and to say I don't work hard now, would be a severe understatement."

The above is just a portion of the Ethan and Lou interview with Ian Bick. Below is the entire interview. In it, you'll hear more about Bick's partners, including one that Bick says got "a slap on the wrist" from Federal Authorities. Ethan also pressed me (Lou Milano) on why I seem to have a problem trusting Bick's answers.

Below is the trailer for the new HMO Max series "Generation Hustle."