$22 million recovered in scam

Keith Paul

Friday, July 20, 2001 | 11:26 a.m.

More than $22 million has been recovered in a scam that has collected hundreds, if not thousands, of victims, Metro Police said.

Officials counted the money seized at two houses and office of Franklyn "Frankie" Perry and arrived at $21,832,184. Another $200,000 to $300,000 was left uncounted because paperwork was attached to it, a Metro Police intelligence unit source said.

Perry, 61, appeared in Las Vegas Justice Court this morning, but prosecutors requested a delay, asking for more time to prepare the charges. Perry is scheduled to appear again in Justice Court on Wednesday.

Perry was held without bond on several charges of fraud and possession of child pornography.

Federal authorities have revoked Perry's parole from prison on a 1985 conviction for pulling the same scam. He was sentenced to 25 years on that 1984 arrest and will not be released from parole until 2009, officials said.

Perry was arrested Tuesday after a Metro investigation that was started the end of February.

Perry, who was running the Ponzi scheme, told investors he was loaning money to high-roller gamblers who had hit their credit limit at area casinos. He would pay some investors a few hundred dollars a week, saying it was the return on the money they gave. The weekly payoffs often enticed others into the scheme, which required a minimum buy-in of $10,000, police said.

Police have no intention of trying to forfeit the money, but they are trying to return it to victims after the prosecution of the case is finished, Deputy Chief Bill Young said.