It had the makings of a lucrative construction defect scheme.
A California law firm, an architect and a construction company were conspiring to pack the homeowners association board at the Starfire condominium complex in southwest Las Vegas with straw buyers to win contracts to pursue construction defect litigation and eventual repair work. Phony defect claims were devised, and HOA board members were bribed with cash and prostitutes to steer business to the conspirators. A little-known investigation into the scheme was conducted by the Nevada attorney general’s office in 2001, but no charges were ever filed.
The investigation, however, is considered the forerunner to Operation GrandMaster, the six-year Justice Department probe into a similar takeover of 11 homeowners associations across the valley, according to the FBI. And it may be what triggered the involvement of the late construction defect lawyer Nancy Quon in the valleywide takeover scheme, which occurred between 2003 and 2009.