Mosque denies conning Mike Tyson of $250,000

Nichole Davis

Thursday, June 26, 1997 | 11:48 a.m.

The Las Vegas mosque to which Mike Tyson gave $250,000 to build a new house of worship denied accusations that it conned the former heavyweight champion out of the money.

The denial came Wednesday in response to comments Tyson made Monday at a press conference in the home of boxing promoter Don King.

"I joined a mosque here in town, a little mosque. I invested $250,000. I didn't know them from a can of paint," Tyson said. "Do you think a mosque was built? No.

"(But) I deserved it. They didn't even con me, I made them con me. I said, 'Here's $250,000. Take it.'"

Although Tyson never referred to the mosque by name, the Masjid As-Sabur's spiritual leader urged him to "cease and desist from making inaccurate and slanderous statements" and said the delay in construction of the new building was caused by a change in leadership.

"The intent (of this statement) is to inform Brother Mike Tyson and all concerned that the obligations to which we were entrusted are being fulfilled. The plans for building the mosque have basically been finalized," Imam Hajji Sultan Luqman Abdus-Salaam wrote.

"The funds donated by Brother Mike Tyson, along with other believing Muslims who donated in the great and worthy cause, are currently in the building fund account in an established financial institution."

Calls to the 711 Morgan Ave. mosque for comment were not immediately returned. However, Mujahid Ramadan, executive director of Nevada Partners, a job-training organization, stepped down from his role as the mosque's spiritual leader in October amid allegations of fiscal misconduct involving the building fund account.

The mosque's news release also disclosed names of local companies with which the group has contracts to build the facility.

Melvin Green, an architect, confirmed he has been working with the civil and structural engineers listed to prepare plans for the city and that they were asked to stop work on the project during the change in administration.

The group is now "three to four weeks out from submitting the plans to the city for review," Green said.

"The mechanical drawings are 100 percent complete. The electrical drawings are 100 percent complete. The plumbing drawings are 100 percent complete. The architecture drawings are 85 percent complete pending structural modifications, and basically, the only thing left would be to finish up the civil and structural before submitting the plans to a city for a plan check."

"It's really unfortunate that he (Tyson) doesn't get his facts straight and come and talk to the people who are working on the project."