Lawsuit alleges fraud in LV apartment purchase

Tuesday, Dec. 14, 1999 | 10:35 a.m.

The Las Vegas businessman said to have purchased the Thunderbird Hotel has been accused of using fraud to gain control of a small apartment complex on North Las Vegas Boulevard.

In a lawsuit brought in Clark County District Court, former owner Robab Egtedar is asking for monetary damages from Doug DaSilva, who now owns the Fantasy Arms apartments at 1101 N. Las Vegas Blvd. Egtedar is also asking for the apartments to be placed in receivership.

DaSilva, however, said the property was condemned 90 days after he acquired it in March, due to a long history of poor maintenance. He also claims Egtedar is merely a front for her brother, the property's true owner.

Egtedar claims she was told by DaSilva in October 1998 that the City of Las Vegas planned to condemn the property, shortly after Egtedar had foreclosed on a previous buyer. DaSilva said he would be able to rehabilitate the property if he was appointed receiver, and save it from condemnation, Egtedar claims.

"If I've never spoken to her, I couldn't have made those claims," responded DaSilva. "I would swear that before a court."

While DaSilva was receiver of the property, he made only one monthly mortgage payment and made no effort to rehabilitate the property, Egtedar claims.

After foreclosure proceedings were complete in March, DaSilva approached Egtedar about purchasing the property outright, the lawsuit claims. According to Egtedar, DaSilva said he would use his connections at the Las Vegas Housing Authority to have the property shut down if Egtedar didn't sell.

Since that time, Egtedar said she has received only one payment on the $1.02 million mortgage.

DaSilva, however, said he made payments on the property through September, even after the property's closure. He said he halted payments only because he was unable to negotiate a deal with Egtedar to put a moratorium on payments to allow the property to be rehabilitated.

"While I was receiver of that property, I was able to forestall an order in 1998 to close the property, because of my experience with the City of Las Vegas," DaSilva said. "We have continued to try to improve the property to get it reopened, but despite all that, it remains closed. So there's no income on the property."

In a separate lawsuit, former Thunderbird general manager Michael Robert Flores claimed DaSilva has purchased the Thunderbird from Bob Stupak for $5 million. Flores didn't name DaSilva as a defendant in that case, but is seeking a 5 percent commission from Stupak in connection with the alleged sale.