At the height of the COVID pandemic, Julian de Looze was confronted by a workplace crisis.
He ran a department at Australia's largest hospital but the doctor's problems lay elsewhere.
Dr de Looze was the owner of a strip club in the United States.
Stag PDX was billed as a haven for the LGBTIQ+ community in the city of Portland.
It was an unconventional sideline for a senior public health official in Queensland.
And keeping tabs on a business more than 11,000 kilometres away was a tall order during a travel ban.
For six months, Dr de Looze tried to oversee everything from pest control to payroll at the club via video calls and emails, while juggling his shifts as a clinical director at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.
Most Australians were still barred from leaving the country when the doctor got a special government exemption to fly to Portland on business in September 2021.
On arrival, Dr de Looze complained in a meeting with two employees that the business was falling apart.
"I am just absolutely furious that everything is broken here," he said.
Warning: This story contains content that may be upsetting for some readers.
What the doctor didn't know was there was a scandal brewing around a key manager at the club.
In CCTV obtained by the ABC, employees made a series of disturbing allegations about the manager to their Australian boss.
Ali Quraishi, a male stripper who had the words "horror, rage, lust" tattooed on his neck in Chinese, was Stag's dance manager.
He was also the doctor's friend.
Bartender Franki Lucas told the doctor at this meeting that Quraishi was "an abuser" who was targeting women at the club.
"It just seems to be a trend that when somebody is unsafe, disrespected, sexually assaulted, the root always comes back to Ali," she said.
She said Quraishi had told her that "he's going to get me pregnant and I should carry his child".
He then "pulled his dick out" and accosted her in the club’s kitchen before colleagues intervened, she said.
A female patron also suspected the manager had previously drugged her and stolen her phone, Ms Lucas said.
Dr de Looze was sceptical.
"Why does she keep coming back?" he said.
He said that without CCTV, "you have no hard evidence", and asked Ms Lucas why he was "hearing hearsay two months down the track"?
He said he was "angry about everything that has failed to now" in the business.
"I understand and we are, too," Ms Lucas replied. "I mean, Ali has charged me with his penis in the kitchen."
Dr de Looze shot back: "Is everything Ali's fault?"
Quraishi kept working at Stag for more than a year until his arrest.
He's now in custody in Washington County Jail on 31 charges including rape, sexual assault, sodomy and invasion of personal privacy.
He's been indicted for alleged sex crimes against eight women, some of them Stag patrons.
Ms Lucas is not involved in the case.
But she is one of seven former Stag employees who say they blew the whistle on Quraishi's misconduct while he allegedly used the club to prey on women.
The former staff say they're disappointed their Australian boss didn't act on their concerns.
Instead, they lost their jobs, while Quraishi kept his.
The Australian doctor and his company are now under investigation by Oregon's Bureau of Labour and Industries (BOLI) for alleged workplace violations.
This includes the alleged unlawful sacking of staff in retaliation for reporting "severe and pervasive sexual harassment" by Quraishi.
Dr de Looze declined an interview or to answer the ABC's questions directly.
Through a lawyer, he said he had not been provided with evidence of "any alleged material wrongdoing by Ali" which was enough to justify him taking action before police did.
"Our client was shocked to hear of the arrest of Ali Quraishi on sexual assault charges in March 2023."
An unlikely friendship
How did a Brisbane physician wind up owning a strip club in the US?
A key reason was his friendship with Quraishi, who worked as a stripper at another club in Portland where they met in 2017.
In 2020, during the pandemic, Quraishi was working at Stag and reached out to the Australian with an offer from the owner to sell the club.
The doctor bought the club and promoted Quraishi to "dance manager".
This meant he was in charge of the other strippers and reported directly to the owner.
Other staff threatened to quit unless Quraishi was sacked before the club's re-opening in May 2021, according to Dr de Looze.
But since they gave "no specific reason" and there were "unsubstantiated allegations" about other staff, the new owner "decided to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and informed staff that nobody was to be terminated", his lawyer said.
Two months later, staff pressed the owner to do something about Quraishi.
Stag's former host, Carlee Roberts, says Quraishi turned up drunk, trying to start fights and making unwanted sexual advances.
"And Julian said, 'Well, I'm not going to suspend him.' And so we were like, 'Then we're not opening the bar,' and we all went home."
Stag's security manager, John Graham says he repeatedly found Quraishi engaged in "oral sex in the VIP room, which was considered illegal prostitution in Oregon".
He says he reported this to Dr de Looze and Quraishi was either sent home or put in "timeout" — sitting on a stool near the bar for 30 minutes — which in his opinion was "kind of a joke".
In September 2021, Mr Graham emailed Dr de Looze to report his "growing concern with Ali's behaviour", including that he "got a girl drunk and took her home".
"I would nightly be talking to Julian, explaining to him, he's messing up, you need to cut ties with this guy," he says.
Brittany Brock, who was security supervisor, also emailed the owner to report that Quraishi was "sexually assaulting females by grabbing their ass and offering money to have them come over and have sex with them".
"One woman said she is calling her attorney," she said.
Dr de Looze emailed Ms Brock from Australia to say he looked forward to "being over there and sorting everything out".
'Everybody's scared to lose their jobs'
After hearing Ms Lucas's complaint in person, Dr de Looze said he respected her for speaking up but he had "not been seeing proof" of allegations against Quraishi.
The doctor said he wanted staff to report incidents to club security.
"It is absolutely horrendous what you're reporting and I just do not tolerate this … but no one has actually documented these problems," he said.
Ms Brock told him that staff were "so scared, they're not willing to come forward and give us information".
Ms Lucas said Quraishi had "threatened our jobs".
"Ali has told me, 'Hey, it's in your best interest to be on my good side, otherwise, you know, you're not going to work out here.' That's literally what he said when he backed me up in the corner."
The next day, everyone was laid off.
Through his lawyers, Dr de Looze told the ABC that he took "the unpopular option of inviting all employees to reapply and reinterview with our client in person for their roles".
This was on the advice of an "independent external business consultant who recommended sweeping changes to the business" in a bid to turn things around, he says.
Ms Brock filed a complaint with the workplace regulator, BOLI, alleging that staff were fired for reporting sexual assaults by a manager.
She told BOLI that Quraishi had been "sexually assaulting females, staff and dancers; physically going after customers and staff; prostituting in the lap dance area; [and] trying to get dancers to have sex with girls and allowing him to watch for money".
Through his lawyer, Dr de Looze says Quraishi "denied any wrongdoing (other than drinking too much and talking complete nonsense on occasion) and no evidence substantiating any complaints such as security camera footage was ever provided to our client".
"As our client was based in Australia, our client relied on management on the ground to run the daily affairs of the business, including managing issues like this, especially since our client didn't have remote access to security camera footage and couldn't visit the business to see things for himself due to COVID travel restrictions."
Dr de Looze's lawyer says shortly after he announced changes to the business, "a safe with a substantial amount of cash was stolen" from the club office by an intruder who appeared to know internal security codes.
He decided to fire Stag's security staff.
After that, "the complaints about Ali largely stopped", the lawyer says.
'Videotaping and raping'
In May 2022, a woman known as E.W. filed a rape complaint with Portland police.
She reported meeting Quraishi at the club and then going to his apartment, where he allegedly forced her into oral sex and made a recording.
Word of the police investigation soon reached Quraishi's new co-managers at Stag.
Matthew Aspiri, who was then general manager, says when detectives took CCTV vision from the club showing Quraishi with a rape complainant, he gave Dr de Looze a copy.
"I told [Julian] on numerous occasions what the allegations were against [Ali] … that he'd been drugging women, taking them back to his apartment in Beaverton and yeah, videotaping and raping," he says.
He says the Australian doctor dismissed the accusations, urging managers to "ignore them, just move forward, just focus on the business".
'Severe and pervasive sexual harassment'
Tai Bennett, who was assistant manager, had his own complaints.
In a sworn statement to BOLI, Mr Bennett says he was subjected to "severe and pervasive sexual harassment" and assaults by Quraishi, who "frequently forcibly grabbed me and tried to kiss me on the mouth and make out with me".
"One one occasion ... Quraishi grabbed me and tried to force himself on me and then attempted to get me to come with him to record a video of us having sex so he could send the video to ... owner De Looze," the complaint says.
It says he often witnessed Quraishi "forcibly touch coworkers, contracted dancers for the club, and customers [who] complained to me about [his] sexually inappropriate, abusive and harassing behaviours towards them".
In his statement, Mr Bennett said he and Mr Aspiri "reported the sexual harassment and unsafe working environment [to the] owner De Looze who took no corrective action".
"Quraishi learned of our complaints to De Looze and ... retaliated against us by becoming even more violent and aggressive in his outbursts," the statement to BOLI says.
It says Mr Bennett and Mr Aspiri "continued reporting and opposing the violent and aggressive behaviours of Quraishi to owner De Looze by telephone and electronic communications".
"De Looze finally consented to terminate and ban Quraishi but the termination and ban only lasted one week."
Mr Aspiri told the ABC it was "just absolutely frustrating".
"I mean, I fired him and getting a call from Julian in the early morning telling me, 'Well, Ali's coming back now,' and I'm like, 'What the hell?'"
The BOLI complaint says when Quraishi made death threats against Mr Aspiri, he told the club owner he was resigning.
This prompted Dr de Looze to temporarily shut the club and fly to Portland "to supposedly hold an all staff meeting to discuss Quraishi's violent, aggressive, threatening and sexually harassing behaviours", it says.
Mr Bennett "submitted a detailed electronic closing report to Dr de Looze documenting Quraishi's violent, aggressive, threatening, sexually harassing and out of control behaviours including the threats made against Aspiri's life".
His statement says that when Dr de Looze arrived in Portland, no meeting took place and instead he was sacked without explanation.
The doctor told him by email: "I am sorry things didn't work out."
'Likely has additional victims'
Quraishi was still employed by Stag when he was arrested in March last year, according to police.
A Washington County grand jury indicted him on 16 charges including rape, sexual abuse, sodomy and invasion of personal privacy.
His alleged assaults of four victims between 2016 and 2022 included the rape and abuse of three women who were "incapable of consent by reason of physical helplessness", according to the unsealed indictment.
Police released his mugshot, saying that "based on the nature of Quraishi's crimes … detectives believe he likely has additional victims".
Last November, a grand jury indicted Quraishi on another 15 charges over the alleged rape and sexual abuse of five more women, including one just weeks before his arrest.
Quraishi remains in custody in Washington County Jail and is due to go on trial next month for alleged assaults on nine victims.
He's accused of assaulting six of them while working at Stag.
Doctor says he 'acted with integrity'
After the arrest, former security manager Mr Graham emailed Dr de Looze to say he had been "contacted by the investigating agencies on Ali's behaviours, the very same I have warned [about] in the past".
Dr de Looze's lawyer says he "cannot stop anyone who may feel aggrieved by any tough decisions our client took in the best interests of the business from dredging up unsubstantiated allegations from years ago".
The doctor is "confident he has always acted with the utmost integrity", his lawyer says.
This is "supported by an absence of any adverse findings against our client and STAG PDX by the relevant regulatory bodies [such as the] Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries [BOLI] and Oregon Employment Department".
However, BOLI recently confirmed an ongoing investigation into the club and its owner.
In a March 21 email to Mr Bennett, an agency official said "your signed complaint will make the fourth open complaint under investigation by BOLI against Stag/Julian De Looze".
The regulator may seek to conciliate or lay civil or criminal charges and prosecute if allegations are substantiated.
It did not respond to questions from the ABC.
