Cheetah Gym owner David Wilshire abruptly closed his Andersonville, Bucktown and Edgewater locations today, saying "theft and graft" destroyed the business.

Wilshire said problems included theft of merchandise, missing petty cash and ghost payrolling. The hip, neighborhood-oriented gym was a prominent spot on Andersonville's Clark Street business area, and on North Avenue in Bucktown.

Gym clients can dispute Cheetah charges on their credit cards to receive refunds, he said.

The Edgewater location ran pretty smoothly, and had "an honest, good, crew", according to Wilshire.

The problems began in June at the Bucktown location, Wilshire said, when a business associate began using the gym's personal training services for free.

Wilshire discovered the business associate was also receiving products sold at the gym -- drinks, for example -- at no charge.

Between the personal training and the products, over $15,000 was stolen, Wilshire said.

"I suspected there was more behind it", said Wilshire. "I thought that maybe he was covering for a lot of people."

Wilshire then began looking more closely at the business and found trouble.

"People were using the petty cash like their own personal accounts," he said.

The final straw came yesterday when Wilshire received a payroll submission. Employee files for some of those receiving paychecks lacked copies of drivers licenses and other identifying documents.

"They may not even have been real people," said Wilshire.

Wilshire was concerned that current employees may have falsified documents to obtain more pay. Because of those concerns, Wilshire said, he asked for documentation on those employees.

When he was not provided with the information, Wilshire  said, he decided he had to close the business.

"Do I employ people I suspect of stealing, or fire them and then the gym can't stay open," Wilshire said.

Wilshire said he was also concerned that employees had access to the credit card numbers of gym clients.

"Major crimes were committed. People should go to jail," Wilshire told confused and angry members in front of the Andersonville location.

Some Cheetah gym members are skeptical of Wilshire's letter.

"I sensed service levels really plummeting," said Bernie Dunne, 34. "It took seven weeks to move my membership from one location to another."

The gym also had a rocky relationship in Andersonville with its next-door neighbor, Farragut's bar, according to an employee there.

"The history was bad," she said.

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