Columnist Jeff German: We’ve not heard last of Levin

Friday, Aug. 17, 2001 | 4:25 a.m.

Jeff German is the Sun's senior investigative reporter. He can be reached at (702) 259-4067 or by e-mail at german@lasvegassun.com

THE SAGA of jailed Las Vegas private detective Mike Levin, it seems, is far from over.

Levin, who's at the heart of the FBI's secrets-for-sale scandal, is said to be continuing to cooperate with New York FBI agents probing his cozy relationship with lawmen in Las Vegas.

And there are rumors that a new round of indictments may soon be upon us. Talk is that Levin's ties to the Las Vegas area law enforcement community were far greater than what we've been told.

Levin also was said to have been a much bigger jet-setter than we've been led to believe, which leaves open the possibility that any new criminal charges could stretch into the Las Vegas business community.

The 36-year-old former FBI agent pleaded guilty in New York to stealing and selling classified FBI documents two weeks after his June 14 arrest. His cooperation led to the arrests of nine others, including three law enforcement officials he had befriended in Las Vegas.

One of those charged was Levin's longtime friend, James J. Hill, a security analyst at the Las Vegas FBI office. Hill, who had access to the FBI's computer system, now is hoping to make a deal himself. He's in federal custody, along with Levin, in New York.

Also caught in the Levin dragnet was Maria Emeterio, an investigator with the Nevada attorney general's office. Emeterio was charged with selling confidential FBI documents to Levin from the computer-based National Crime Information Center.

Her arrest prompted agents with the Nevada Division of Investigations to probe whether others in the attorney general's office illegally supplied Levin with sensitive FBI information.

State agents are being allowed to debrief Levin in New York.

As Levin sings behind bars for investigators, one of his former Las Vegas associates is said to be looking to turn the tables on him while battling a federal fraud indictment.

Anil Kumar Gupta, a businessman who gained national attention for a 1998 failed attempt to buy the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, is blaming much of his criminal troubles on Levin, once his smooth-talking partner in a couple of shadowy business deals.

Gupta, who also has earned a reputation as a scammer, was indicted here May 30, two weeks before Levin was arrested in New York, on wire and securities fraud charges stemming from a $290,000 scheme to sell historic railroad bonds that turned out to be worthless. He has pleaded innocent.

In the aftermath of both arrests, FBI agents have managed to document strong ties between the two men, who were known to fly all over the country together on rented jets.

Agents have learned about some of their more interesting escapades.

In one joint venture, Gupta and Levin supposedly were to receive a large finder's fee for helping a woman secretly recover millions of dollars from a European bank.

Another scam involved a reported effort to fraudulently over-value by millions of dollars numerous paintings done by a Florida-based Dutch artist. The paintings were seized several weeks ago from a vault Levin maintained in Las Vegas.

In a cautious mode, federal authorities still are trying to sort out the art scheme. If you believe Levin, Gupta is the con man here. But if you believe Gupta and his lawyer, Pete Christiansen, Levin is the bad guy.

"Mike Levin is a rat," Christiansen says. "He's trying to work off his case and problems with the feds by telling stories about my client."

For the moment, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Parella, who is prosecuting Gupta and two others in the securities fraud case, is listening to Levin.

He's been given permission to travel to New York to get the lowdown on Gupta from the jailed former FBI agent.

The saga of Mike Levin, it seems, is far from over.