This trial continues to be a travesty because 37 of the criminals involved were allowed to plead guilty in order to get lighter sentences. The sentences won’t be announced until after the current trial is over. But I’ll take a reporter’s wild guess that the average sentence for these mobsters won’t be greater than 18 months, with much of that time off for good behavior. Read more:
Author Archives: Beanie
NEVADA – State Supreme Court justices deny tipping HOA conspirator to FBI raids
Las Vegas Review-Journal: State Supreme Court justices deny tipping HOA conspirator to FBI raids
Bret Whipple, the defense lawyer who questioned Genato on the witness stand, did not press her for a name, and a Justice Department prosecutor later avoided the subject.
By Jeff German
March 10, 2015
The identity of the Nevada Supreme Court justice alleged to have tipped off a construction defect lawyer to the federal homeowners association investigation in 2008 remained a secret Tuesday.
This came as all seven of the justices on the high court when the late Nancy Quon was thought to have received the tip denied speaking to Quon about the high-profile investigation.
On Monday, a witness in the trial of four remaining defendants charged in the massive scheme to take over and defraud HOAs testified she was told a Supreme Court justice had alerted Quon before FBI-led raids across the valley in September 2008. Quon’s law office was one of many sites searched.
Deborah Genato, who pleaded guilty in the multi-million-dollar scheme, told a jury under cross-examination that she learned about Quon’s tip from her boss, Lisa Kim, who ran a company that managed several HOAs linked to the six-year conspiracy that began in 2003.
Bret Whipple, the defense lawyer who questioned Genato on the witness stand, did not press her for a name, and a Justice Department prosecutor later avoided the subject.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge James Mahan outside the presence of the jury refused to allow Whipple to discuss the allegation with a Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter during the trial or to release government documents on the subject that were provided to the defense. Mahan said a protective order bars both sides from making public investigative documents. Read more:
PENNSYLVANIA – Family Accused of Embezzling Money
wearecentralpa.com: Family Accused of Embezzling Money
…used funds from the Skyview Homeowner Association
By Kelsie Metzgar
February 9, 2015
RICHLAND, CAMBRIA COUNTY – Richland Township Police say a father, mother, and daughter are accused of embezzling money from a housing complex. They say the suspects, Julianna Zamias, and her parents, Dennis and Julia Michaels used funds from the Skyview Homeowner Association to transfer money to different accounts, write personal checks, and have personal expenses paid. The theft totals to over $80,0000. Read more:
NEVADA – Nevada justice warned HOA conspirators of police raids, witness says
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada justice warned HOA conspirators of police raids, witness says
The subject of leaks has been a sensitive issue in the case.
By Jeff German
March 9, 2015
Though several attorneys and former police officers were charged in the high-profile investigation, no judges or Supreme Court justices have been charged.
In a statement released late Monday, Chief Justice James Hardesty said: “The Nevada Supreme Court, as an institution, has nothing to offer in response to your inquiry about the testimony of Deborah Genato. This is an inquiry that should be directed to each individual justice, not the court.
“Speaking for myself, I have never spoken to Nancy Quon about this or any other investigation, whether civil or criminal.”
Quon, considered one of the central figures in the scheme, committed suicide in March 2012 under the weight of the long-running federal investigation. She was not charged at the time.
The subject of leaks has been a sensitive issue in the case.
In March 2011, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation to determine whether prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Las Vegas had leaked information that allowed Quon to alter or destroy evidence.Read more:
NATIONAL – The HOAX Documentary Update
The HOAXfilm.com: The HOAX Documentary Update
The HOAX Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS2H9DoCTsU
By Rodney Gray
March 8, 2015
Greetings all!
The HOAX, has been submitted to two film festivals with more festival submissions to follow. Yes, like I mentioned in a previous post on Facebook, “thanks so much for all your patience. I know this has been a long wait and I greatly appreciate your enduring support.”
Along with the early submissions to film festivals, I’ve updated this project and posted a trailer (see link above) on the movie data base: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2497618/combined Read more:
Nevada – Ward Lucas: Have some guts and start investigating racketeering in HOAs all over the country!
Neighbors at War.com: Ward Lucas: I know there are some FBI people who read this blog. Have some guts and start investigating racketeering in HOAs all over the country!
March 6, 2015
By Ward Lucas
Guns? Organized crime? Fear of winding up in the desert? Major law firms involved? The HOA racketeering trial in Nevada is producing some interesting testimony from witnesses in the scheme to take over Homeowners Associations across the valley.
NEVADA – Change to HOA law sought after coyote kills family pet
KTNV: Change to HOA law sought after coyote kills family pet
Neighbors agreed to the rollers but the HOA would not
By Darcy Spears. CREATED Mar 6, 2015
Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) — A Contact 13 HOA Hall of Shame investigation sparks action as lawmakers take up a woman’s fight to protect her pets.
“To fight something like this, it’s hard to do. You know it’s really hard to fight an HOA,” said Marie Hodge.
The senior citizen has been fighting her homeowner association since last Fall. Fighting in memory of her beloved Arne, who was killed by a coyote in his own backyard.
“I just want to do this for my cat. I don’t want him to have died in vain out here.”
Now, Marie’s got a heavy hitter in her corner.
“This is an issue all across the valley,” said Senator Mark Manendo. He’s talking about coyotes invading communities. Read more:
FLORIDA – Seminole community’s closed fairways lead to litter, looters; Rolling Hills Golf Club site is a ‘Disgrace’
ccfj.net: Seminole community’s closed fairways lead to litter, looters; Rolling Hills Golf Club Site is a ‘Disgrace’ – Ruined course riles residents
Article Courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel
By Martin E. Comas
Published March 3, 2015
For decades, it stood as the centerpiece of the high-end Rolling Hills community, with acres of lush fairways and an elegant clubhouse. Now the old golf course is little more than a junkyard, a dirt track and a hangout for suspected drug dealers. The first blow came when Rolling Hills Golf Club closed. Seven months later, joy riders use the fairways to pop wheelies and carve doughnuts in the dirt. The former restaurant and pro shop are covered with graffiti. Motorists use the weed-filled greens as shortcuts across the neighborhood, and moldy mattresses, broken glass and empty cans litter portions of the course. “It’s just very depressing,” said Phil Taylor as he looked at the torn awnings outside his neighborhood’s old clubhouse. “This affects hundreds of people and the values of their homes.” Since the country club near Altamonte Springs closed last July, residents have been alarmed at its rapid decline. But it’s not just the graffiti, trash and overgrown fairways. Deputy sheriffs have been called out to the property dozens of times since July 1 for reports of burglary, criminal mischief, illegal dumping and property damage. Read more:
FLORIDA – Residents: North Bay Village condo has gone criminal
Local10.com: Residents: North Bay Village condo has gone criminal
Bob Norman, Reporter
March 5, 2015
The Kennedy House condominium is located on Biscayne Bay in North Bay Village, but many of its residents said the way things are going it doesn’t feel like it’s in America at all.”It’s like we’re in a banana republic,” said resident Lynn Ragusa.
Residents said there has been unchecked crime at the condo that starts at the top with condo manager Rachel Badilla, who was charged in August with stealing $4,500 from the condo association after forging the names of board members on a check.
Despite the fact that she faces criminal prosecution on the allegations she stole from the Kennedy House, she has been allowed to keep her position running the association and overseeing its $1.2 million budget. Residents said they learned the association even posted the $5,000 bond to bail her out of jail.
Former board treasurer Sigrid Nilssen, a witness in the case, said she’s disgusted that the association’s current leadership is keeping Badilla in charge of the Kennedy House.
“A woman who has been charged with two felonies, how can you explain that?” asked Nilssen.
Nilssen said she was forced off the board after she began asking questions about financial irregularities. She notes that the Kennedy House also has Robert Dugger on the payroll as a consultant.
Dugger is a former North Bay Village commissioner who was removed from office by former Gov. Jeb Bush after he was charged criminally in a corruption case and was ultimately convicted of two misdemeanor charges. Read more:
NEVADA – HOA scheme straw buyer, attorney say they feared for their lives
Las Vegas Review-Journal: HOA scheme straw buyer, attorney say they feared for their lives
March 4, 2015
By Jeff German
Suspended lawyer Brian Jones testified Wednesday that he was fresh out of law school working at a high-powered law firm when he became involved in election rigging at two homeowners associations.
Jones, one of 37 people who pleaded guilty in a valley-wide scheme to take over and defraud HOAs, told a federal jury that he was introduced to Leon Benzer, the mastermind of the scheme, by Robert J. Gronauer, a firm partner and the son of former Las Vegas township Constable Robert “Bobby G” Gronauer.
The younger Gronauer was not charged in the criminal investigation, but in a District Court civil lawsuit he is accused of malpractice tied to the scheme. He has denied the allegation.
The now-dissolved firm — Kummer Kaempfer Bonner Renshaw &Ferrario — represented Benzer, who owned Silver Lining Construction Company and needed legal advice on a real estate matter, Jones said he was told.
Benzer had him oversee an election at the Vistana board in December 2006 to, as Benzer put it, preserve the integrity of the balloting.
Jones said he later learned that Benzer actually was trying to stuff the ballot box, take control of the Vistana board and obtain a multimillion-dollar contract for construction defect repairs.
“I was hired to maintain the integrity of the ballots, and it didn’t happen,” Jones said. “The ballots were compromised.” Read more:
MISSOURI – HOA denies dying girl’s last wish
FOX 29: HOA denies dying girl’s last wish
March 4, 2015
RAYMORE, Missouri – A homeowners’ association in Missouri is under fire for denying a dying girl’s wish to have a playhouse built in her yard.
Little Ella Schultz is suffering from an aggressive and deadly form of cancer. When the Make A Wish Foundation offered to grant Ella’s wish, she asked for a playhouse.
“It looks like an adorable miniature playhouse!” says Ella’s mom, Jennifer Schultz.
The Stone Gate Homeowners’ Association disagreed and said no to the playhouse. Read more:
HOA Reform Coalition 