Even before Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky poured money through Mormon-owned banks, Las Vegas has been ripe for real estate fraud. Siegel's flagship casino, "The Flamingo" raked in cash even as Siegel died in a blistering storm of gunfire.
In the 1950s while celebrities of film and music like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Liberace entertained tourists in intimate settings, groups such as Jews, Sicilians and Mormons propped up gambling enterprises until there was very little room. The 1950-51 Kefauver Hearings shut down land speculation but failed to do anything about organized crime tied to the casinos, the controlling interest in the city.
They didn't face a challenger until an eccentric hero, and wealthy financier in the form of Howard Hughes came along. Reaching a gentleman's agreement with the mob, Hughes assumed control of much of the real estate while organized crime ruled the slot machines and poker tables. The mob didn't ask Hughes about his real estate deals, and Hughes didn't stick his nose into the gambling.
Both sides knew the other was dancing around the edge of legality.
Now, in 2018, gambling has fairly well been reined in by the gaming commission and real estate is a well-regulated industry. Occasionally word leaks about a rogue agent. Here are a few.
The Good News And The Bad News
The bad news is Nevada is ranked number 2 for the fourth straight year of the LexisNexis Risk Solutions Mortgage Fraud Index. All despite some harsh penalties handed over for fraud charges in Vegas.
The good news the state isn't the leader.
While the report didn't break out all sorts of fraud in each state, it did say bankers' lending criteria are at the rood of the problem.
Just for the record, Florida was #1
A Rising Star Crashes And Burns
Eve Mazzarella was released from federal prison 2011 while her appeal in a $52 million mortgage fraud scheme works its way through the courts. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals granted Mazzarella temporary freedom after her attorneys raised a significant "question of law"
