Mastermind gets 15 years in 'mind-boggling' scheme to fleece Vegas HOAs of millions
Bringing to a close the largest known public corruption case in Southern Nevada, a federal judge on Thursday sentenced a former construction company boss portrayed by prosecutors as its mastermind to 15½ years in prison.
The case, which brought down multiple attorneys among a total of nearly 40 defendants, involved a scheme to take over the homeowner associations of large condominiums in a position to hand out lucrative construction contracts and construction-related legal work, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
Attorney Nancy Quon, who specialized in construction-defect cases, was said to be the other “principal architect” of the fraud, along with Leon Benzer, but was never charged because she committed suicide in 2012. (Another lawyer found dead around the same time had been charged in the case, but was subsequently dropped as a defendant.)
As many as a dozen HOAs were targeted, but FBI raids in 2008 saved perhaps half a dozen, an earlier Las Vegas Review-Journal article reports.
U.S. District Judge James Mahan on Thursday described the scope of the scheme, which relied on rigged elections and straw buyers to gain control of HOAs, as “mind-boggling.” However, he gave Benzer, 48, less than the 20 years sought by prosecutors because the defendant opted to plead guilty.
“This whole thing was really very unsettling. The scope of it, the scale of it was absolutely astounding,” Mahan said.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Indictment: Now-deceased lawyer helped funnel $8M through secret accounts to win HOA contracts”
ABAJournal.com: “General counsel, 3 others federally convicted in conspiracy to fleece Las Vegas HOAs”
