The daughter of Steve Utash spoke out today about her brother Joe, assuring the public that he did not steal any fundraising money on Saturday to use at a strip club.
Fox 2 reported that some witnesses at the club suggested he might have used money from the fundraiser for his father Steve, who was beaten by a mob.
Joe Utash made some headlines night when he spent money on lap dances Saturday at the Coliseum strip joint on Detroit's east side, and then claimed a dancer robbed him. (See top story).
On Tuesday afternoon, Mandi Utash-Emerick issued a statement:
I need to clear the air on some things that have been said about my family. Last night a reporter from fox 2 reported a story about my brother implying that he stole fundraising money to go to the strip club.
That is IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM TRUE! My brother has no access to any fundraising money, NONE AT ALL, my sister and I meet with the people hosting the fundraiser and let them know that I am in control of my dad's money being the oldest of the siblings.
Nobody but myself and my lawyer can touch that money. Checks are made out to my fathers name or the trust fund itself. My brother was at winners bar for only about an hour on Saturday between 4-5pm so he wasn't there when everyone started showing up or any money was handed to anyone. I cannot believe they would air something like this and accuse him of something without any proof other then a women from the strip club saying he came from a fundraiser.
THATS IT! I'm not saying it's right that he spent his unemployment check there or that he was there to begin with but to make these kind of accusations on my brother and bashing my family name with his poor choices is completely unfair. Every cent is protected and none of any type of donation has gone anywhere but the bank!
We are waiting on Medicaid to respond as well as other crime victim programs for assistance. I've lost a lot of respect for fox 2 for reporting such garbage and the fact that my mother and myself asked that reporter to not air something like that.
This is the last thing we need right now as if were not going through enough. I hope people believe me when I say that it was not fundraiser money and I hope this doesn't change how people feel about my dad's recovery. We love our father and wouldn't ever steal a dime from him.