Las Vegas real estate executive charged with securities fraud

A Las Vegas enforcement who runs aggregate existent property firms and erstwhile taught existent property instrumentality astatine UNLV has been charged with securities fraud.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced past week that it charged Vestin Mortgage proprietor Michael Shustek with defrauding investors, alleging helium “fraudulently enriched himself” and 1 of his companies “at the disbursal of” 2 different existent property concern firms helium founded.

According to the agency, Shustek allegedly “drained $29 million” from those 2 firms to “funnel the money” into the 3rd and aboriginal directed “a bid of money-losing transactions successful which the aforesaid six buildings were repeatedly re-sold, each to payment himself” and 1 of his companies.

He besides allegedly “deceived” the boards astatine 2 of his firms to get them to wage him astir $10 cardinal and caused the companies “to marque mendacious and misleading statements successful their nationalist filings, which hid his self-dealing,” the SEC claimed successful a quality release.

This isn’t the archetypal clip the bureau has levied accusations against the 62-year-old Shustek, whom it labeled a “recidivist” successful past week’s quality release.

An extracurricular communications steadfast told the Review-Journal connected Tuesday that Shustek was incapable to remark oregon supply an interrogation astir the SEC’s complaint, filed successful U.S. District Court successful Nevada.

The steadfast besides provided a connection from Shustek’s attorney, Manny Abascal of instrumentality steadfast Latham & Watkins successful Los Angeles, who said his lawsuit “is a palmy existent property entrepreneur and an integral portion of the Las Vegas concern community.”

“The SEC’s ailment falsely claims that respective years agone Mr. Shustek took vantage of 2 companies, without stating that helium is the laminitis and largest shareholder of those precise aforesaid companies,” Abascal said. “Mr. Shustek has successfully led those companies for implicit 20 years, surviving aggregate recessions, a pandemic, and much precocious a relentless three-year probe spawned by disgruntled erstwhile concern partners.”

Abascal, who did not sanction those partners, added that Shustek “looks guardant to contesting these aged and unfounded claims and clearing his name.”

In its 17-page complaint, the SEC alleged that since astatine slightest 2012, Shustek “orchestrated a bid of varied and analyzable fraudulent schemes that shared 1 communal theme: He devised ways to enrich himself astatine the disbursal of those who invested successful entities that helium ran.”

The bureau alleged that helium “exerted control” implicit 2 existent property concern trusts that “bore the brunt of his misconduct,” Vestin Realty Mortgage I and Vestin Realty Mortgage II. In 1 “brazen plot,” Shustek allegedly “drained $29 million” from the trusts and “funneled the money” into a newer task called The Parking REIT, the SEC said.

The ailment comes astir 15 years aft the SEC, arsenic portion of a 2006 colony with Shustek, ordered him to “cease and desist” from committing immoderate violations of securities instrumentality and to wage a $100,000 civilian penalty.

At the time, the bureau said that Shustek and 2 of his companies had raised astir $560 cardinal from investors since 2000, and had allegedly “willfully violated” securities law. As portion of the settlement, Shustek neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s claims.

In a 2012 securities filing — successful which Shustek sought to rise up to $550 cardinal for a existent property task — his bio stated that helium was a impermanent lecturer astatine UNLV and that helium had besides taught a people successful existent property instrumentality and morals astatine the university.

UNLV spokesperson Tony Allen said Tuesday that, arsenic the schoolhouse has antecedently stated, Shustek “periodically delivered impermanent lectures successful concern schoolhouse classes implicit the years connected topics including existent property law,” perchance from the precocious 1990s done the 2000s.

Contact Eli Segall astatine esegall@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall connected Twitter.