IRS goes after LV property in alleged stock scheme

Tuesday, June 29, 1999 | 11:50 a.m.

The Internal Revenue Service is accusing two Las Vegans of conspiring to launder $10 million it says they earned through illegal stock manipulation schemes.

Besides filing criminal charges against Peter Berney and Rebecca Berney, the IRS is seeking to acquire three parcels of land it claims Rebecca Berney purchased with money that originated with the stock manipulation schemes.

Rebecca Berney was arrested and released on bond on a warrant issued by a federal judge June 4 at the request of the U.S. Attorney's Office and the IRS. Peter Berney remained at large today. The two were charged in a criminal complaint, they have not been indicted by a grand jury.

The IRS followed up with three civil complaints this week seeking to foreclose on the three Las Vegas properties.

The civil complaint and the criminal charge spell out details from an IRS investigation that started in 1994. The documents say Peter Berney bribed stock market participants with millions of dollars and manipulated the volume and price of stocks in Nevada, California and New York.

The IRS claims Peter Berney gave Rebecca Berney at least $4 million from 1997 to 1999. These funds were for Rebecca's use to make money through stock manipulation as a "day trader," the IRS alleges.

The agency claims Rebecca Berney made at least $500,000 to $600,000 per year manipulating stocks.

The IRS suit seeks to foreclose on three properties it says were purchased with illegally obtained funds. They are a lot in unincorporated Clark County at the intersection of Whispering Sands Drive and Desperado valued at $92,500, a vacant lot at 14 Sardana Court in Henderson valued at $465,000 and a home at 1901 Corta Bella in Las Vegas valued at $700,000.

These properties are owned by the Winterwood and Wheels trusts that are associated with Rebecca Berney, the IRS said.

The funds for the real estate came from accounts controlled by Watkins Glenn Development, a firm controlled by the couple, the IRS said.

The two also control Cambro Investment Group and PBA Energy Associates, the agency said in court papers.

The IRS alleges funds that were earned through illegal stock manipulation were diverted by the couple into various companies and trusts and real estate in order to avoid detection by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the FBI. The IRS claims the couple caused fraudulent tax returns to be filed as part of the money laundering scheme.

Accountants associated with the couple would create shell companies that controlled the stock being manipulated, the IRS said. The agency identified three such shell companies: Nevtah Capital Management Corp., Top Dollar Realty and Tara West Ventures.

The IRS indicated Peter Berney left Rebecca for another woman in 1994, but that he provided her funds to buy her silence. Rebecca had records about her husband's alleged stock manipulations, which the IRS called "her insurance policy against Peter leaving her high and dry."