close

State office: Iceoplex in arrears

2 min read
article image -

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry filed a $23,874 lien against Iceoplex at Southpointe LLC in Washington County Court in an attempt to collect unpaid contributions to the unemployment fund, plus interest, from the first two quarters of 2014.

As an employer, the corporation was required to turn over contributions to the unemployment compensation fund. The lien serves as a notice that must be satisfied before an owner can have clear title to the property.

The state’s filing in Washington County Court comes just a week after the majority owner of the Iceoplex at Southpointe was the subject of an 18-count indictment from a federal grand jury. The indictment alleges Steven J. Lynch, 60, of Pittsburgh, failed to pay taxes from January 2012 through April of this year.

Lynch already was facing charges of failing to pay payroll taxes between 2008 and 2011, including one count of obstructing the Internal Revenue Code. According to the original indictment, Lynch ordered staffers not to pay federal income taxes and Social Security and Medicare contributions that were withheld from employee paychecks. At the time the first indictment was delivered, it was estimated more than $1 million was owed in payroll taxes.

Since its opening in May 1995, Iceoplex, at 114 Southpointe Boulevard, was the practice facility for the Pittsburgh Penguins, until earlier this year. The 65,000-square-foot building also serves a variety of youth, adult and recreational hockey programs.

Lynch owns Iceoplex and other businesses, including a real estate company and The Boulevard at Iceoplex, a bar and restaurant that is part of the skating complex.

Lynch, an attorney, has been Iceoplex’s president since 2003. He served with the Penguins’ ownership group of Howard Baldwin, Morris Belzberg and Tom Ruta, which filed for bankruptcy in October 1998.

The current ownership group, Southpointe Rink Associates LP, purchased Iceoplex in 2001.

The Penguins relocated their practice facilities to the new UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, Butler County, earlier this year.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today