Once-secret brief filed by federal prosecutors details scheme to defraud Vegas HOAs
Now that 42 defendants have been convicted in a federal corruption case over a scheme to fleece Las Vegas area homeowners associations of millions of dollars, prosecutors have released a brief filed under seal.
It provides new details about the scheme operated by convicted mastermind Leon Benzer, a former construction company owner, and Nancy Quon, a now-deceased lawyer, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
With the help of $3 million invested by Quon, who specialized in construction-defect litigation, Benzer took over the boards in charge of managing large associations expected to need remedial work, according to the brief.
“To execute his plan, Benzer recruited real estate agents, notaries, lawyers, property managers and individuals into his fraudulent scheme,” prosecutors wrote. “Through this assembled network of co-conspirators, Benzer methodically set out to control HOA boards to perfect the scheme, initially keeping his principal investor (Quon) apprised of his progress.
“Benzer directed the purchase of condominiums at targeted HOAs through a network of straw buyers and systematically took control of several HOA boards through a pattern of fraud and deceit, including the rigging of HOA board elections.”
Quon agreed to share 10 percent of her attorney fees with Benzer, the brief says. It credits discovery of the scheme to a HOA lawyer who suspected something was wrong with the election being held. One of the candidates eventually told the lawyer about the takeover scheme.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Mastermind gets 15 years in ‘mind-boggling’ scheme to fleece Vegas HOAs of millions”
