Quantcast
Home manage Las Vegas Review-Journal
  Jobs Cars Homes Shopping Travel Weddings Golf Best of Las Vegas Photo   Search:

RECENT EDITIONS
Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri

sponsored by
News


CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION: Agents pursue HOA records

Board members, lawyers, construction firms scrutinized

In its sweeping investigation into homeowners associations, the federal government is digging up documents and correspondence related to association board members, attorneys and construction companies, according to a search warrant issued in the probe.

During searches of seven common-interest communities governed by homeowners associations, FBI agents sought ballot lists, ballots, envelopes and nomination forms.


Most Popular Stories
  • Three suspects arrested in shooting death of police officer
  • Three suspects arrested in shooting death of police officer
  • FATAL SHOOTING: Police again mourn comrade
  • NORM: Biden finds rank has its privileges
  • NORM: Walton: Coach deserved a punch
  • Station Casinos posts $455 million third-quarter loss
  • DEADLY HOME INVASION: Police suspect link to family
  • Two of three suspects in slaying of officer could face death penalty
  • Las Vegas police shoot at man fleeing after traffic stop
  • Las Vegas police shoot at man fleeing after traffic stop
  • UNLV sacks football coach Sanford
  • NORM: CityCenter seeks presidential visit




  • Authorities are investigating whether individuals were planted on homeowners association boards to funnel business stemming from construction defect lawsuits to certain attorneys and construction companies.

    In one case, according to a source close to a construction company alleging it was frozen out of the bidding process to fix construction defects, the owner of a property management company referred so many cases to the same law firm she was rewarded with a trip to Cabo San Lucas.

    Agents are searching homeowners association records and ballot information dating back to 2001. The properties listed on one search warrant include Vistaña, Chateau Versailles, Pebble Creek, Park Avenue, Sunset Cliffs, Chateau Nouveau and Mission Pointe.

    The government also seeks seven years of correspondence involving 43 people including Lisa Kim, president of the property management firm Platinum Community Services, which was raided by agents Wednesday. Some of the others include current and former homeowners association board members around the valley.

    An attorney for Platinum, Blaine Beckstead, said Thursday that the warrant Platinum was served with on Wednesday did not include the names of Kim or any other Platinum employee. The Review-Journal verified Thursday night that Kim, who could not be reached for comment, was not listed on the warrant served at that location.

    Agents are also interested in documents related to political consultant Steve Wark, who served as president of the Vistaña Homeowners Association, as well as prominent construction defect attorneys Scott Canepa and Nancy Quon.

    Being named in a warrant does not necessarily mean individuals were involved in wrongdoing. No arrests were made as a result of the raids.

    Canepa and Quon were unable to be reached for comment.

    Wark did not sound surprised that his name was listed in the warrant. He was president of the Vistaña homeowners association between late 2005 and fall 2007, he said.

    Quon was one of the attorneys who represented the association in its 2005 lawsuit against Rhodes Ranch. The company fought Rhodes over faulty plumbing and other problems.

    "I was president of the association, and I would expect at some point that people need to talk to me," Wark said.

    He said he wasn't involved in any wrongdoing and that he has not been contacted by law enforcement.

    Search warrants were executed Wednesday on nine valley properties, including a building on Bertsos Drive, near Flamingo Road and Arville Street, which is owned by Silver Lining Construction owner Leon Benzer. Federal agents are also after contracts and invoices related to Benzer's construction company.

    But a source close to Silver Lining Construction said that the company was not involved in any wrongdoing.

    Instead, the source said, it was another firm, Draeger Construction, that monopolized the construction defect rehabilitation industry, freezing out other bidders.

    According to the source, competitors of Draeger, including Silver Lining, are looking into filing a federal anti-trust lawsuit against the construction company, property managers and attorneys. The gist of the complaint is that Draeger has monopolized the market because it is in cahoots with the property managers and attorneys.

    Draeger Construction is listed in one of the warrants.

    A message left for Draeger representatives was not returned Thursday.

    According to the source, one property management company, Castle Management, referred all construction defect complaints to a local law firm which would then suggest to the homeowners board that it hire Draeger Construction to do tests and make repairs.

    Other competitive bidders, such as Silver Lining, are not even considered even though they may offer the best deal, the source said.

    At one point, the law firm treated Castle Management owner Diane Wild on a trip to Mexico, the source said.

    Wild did not return calls seeking comment.

    Draeger Construction landed the jobs in part because it showered homeowners association board members with gifts, the source said. But it also pitched itself as the only company that could provide properties with certain materials, weeding out other bidders.

    Review-Journal writer Lawrence Mower contributed to this report. Contact reporter Adrienne Packer at apacker@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.

    Newsvine Digg Fark Technorati reddit StumbleUpon del.icio.us Slashdot Propeller Mixx Furl Twitter MySpace Facebook Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Bookmarks Windows Live Favorites Ask MyStuff myAOL Favorites

    Leave Your Comment 106 Reader Comments
    Terms & Conditions
    The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The reviewjournal.com does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor.

    Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 48 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
    Current Word Count:

    Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

    J. Marshall wrote on October 17, 2008 06:14 PM: pcam, you must live in a dream world. Feinberg,Grant is paid a commission from John Leach for every CD case referred to him. Leach is in control of more than 200 of the largest HOAs in LV and Henderson. He tells their BOD who to use and they do it. He runs CAI and the real estate division and if you don't believe it your are asleep at the wheel. The Ombudsman's chief investigator is in his pocket and o one can touch him but you claim this inductry has something to be proud of. Wake up and smell the coffee.


    Tsuki Morgan wrote on October 02, 2008 07:06 PM: Adrienne Packer has not done enough research into how CID management companies select contractors. His/her article is definitely slanted.


    LV wrote on October 01, 2008 01:23 PM: The FBI needs to look into SPRING VALLEY HOA ... bad , very bad !!!


    J. L. wrote on September 30, 2008 09:16 AM: WOW....I have worked for several years in construction, involved in chapter 40 cases, now a third party defense expert and must admit once a company is included in a CD case they pay, no matter what. The HOA's and plaintiff's attorneys are definetly in bed with each other. Most problems are due to the fact that homeowners do not maintain thier houses or lease them out until they are need of repair. Then some shark CD lawyer (QUON) comes around and says the builder is to blame. It is a sham. On the other side is builders like Olin that get sued, sue all the subs and go on to build the next development and do it all over again. Same product, same subs, same lawyers. However I must say I am busier now thatn ever before


    walker07 wrote on September 30, 2008 08:57 AM: I would just like to state that as an Board member of the HOA in my development that Draeger Contruction has done a fine job with my community, one of the employee's was so nice he even offered to watch my children for me, sure Billy walks a little funny now but the fact that he would put the extra time in for the kids shows some real character, come think of it he spent time with a lot of the children on property...wow he must have really liked kids.


    BringthemtoJustice wrote on September 30, 2008 07:51 AM: Why are you sticking up for Diane Wild-Castle Management? Please do a search of District Court records using her name. Then check out the minutes for the Nevada Real Estate Division, Commission for Common Interest Communities (hint: January 2006). For even more excitement, fill out the form entitled, "Request for Record of Complaint" and submit it to the Real Estate Commission.

    Unless you are the supervisor for this particular FBI investigation, I doubt you know the scope of the case--I sure don't despite my background.


    CACM wrote on September 29, 2008 01:59 PM: As a former community manager that has had several Construction Defect cases, I can state without issue, that Draeger Construction performed honestly and professionally during their time on said projects. In fact, on more than one occasion Draeger came to the Board to explain the process and share ideas with the Board to make a better fix and more times than not, it was at a lower cost than previously estimated. I can't comment on Las Vegas, but it seems that the Law Firm was playing fast and loose and that Mgmt was involved. Can we wait to see if any arrests are made before piling on top of people/companies? Silver Lining seems like it has sour grapes over Draegers success in their backyard!


    Crooks wrote on September 29, 2008 08:10 AM: The FBI needs to look into Sun City Anthem HOA.


    PCAM wrote on September 28, 2008 10:54 PM: So I have read the comments and I have to set some stuff straight. I have personally seen the search warrants and there were only 4 names that were the target of the search warrant. This case is not about managers getting bought off this case is about a group of people that got together and decided that they would work together to buy units put their employees on the Board and direct the CD cases to Nancy Quon and Silver Lining Construction.

    A lot of good people's reputation are being tarnished for no reason except jealousy or wanting to use this opportunity to destroy peoples lives. When this all comes out into the light everyone will see that this case does not extend to Dreager Construction, Feinberg Grant, Castle Management, or CAMCO. Some of these companies work every hard to do the right thing for the homeowners in the HOAs that they represent. Are they people out there that will never be happy with any outcome? Of course.

    I am proud to be one of the people that helped to get this into the hands of the Federal Agents. I want to see these bad people get what they deserve and give the HOA industry back some pride so it can show Las Vegas was a great industry it is.


    PCAM wrote on September 28, 2008 10:54 PM: So I have read the comments and I have to set some stuff straight. I have personally seen the search warrants and there were only 4 names that were the target of the search warrant. This case is not about managers getting bought off this case is about a group of people that got together and decided that they would work together to buy units put their employees on the Board and direct the CD cases to Nancy Quon and Silver Lining Construction.



    A lot of good people's reputation are being tarnished for no reason except jealousy or wanting to use this opportunity to destroy peoples lives. When this all comes out into the light everyone will see that this case does not extend to Dreager Construction, Feinberg Grant, Castle Management, or CAMCO. Some of these companies work every hard to do the right thing for the homeowners in the HOAs that they represent. Are they people out there that will never be happy with any outcome? Of course.



    I am proud to be one of the people that helped to get this into the hands of the Federal Agents. I want to see these bad people get what they deserve and give the HOA industry back some pride so it can show Las Vegas was a great industry it is.


    Read All Comments