Charges filed over LV mortgage scandal

Friday, May 4, 2001 | 10:35 a.m.

The Nevada Attorney General's Office has filed felony theft and embezzlement charges against the operator of a Las Vegas mortgage company.

Deputy Attorney General Matthew Dushoff said David Ferradino, the head of Interstate Mortgage Group Inc., which has offices at 1601 N. Rancho Drive and at 1096 E. Sahara Ave., could face up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine on each of the two felony charges if convicted.

Ferradino also was charged with fraudulent conveyance of property, a gross misdemeanor that carries a maximum one-year prison term and a $2,000 fine. Ferradino is scheduled to be arraigned in Clark County Justice Court May 24.

Ferradino, reached by phone at his office, referred questions to his attorneys. Attorneys Stanley Hunterton and Pamela Lawson could not be reached for comment.

In a statement issued by the Attorney General's Office Thursday, Dushoff said the investigation involves the use of investors' collateral in the Champion Homes and Iron Mountain Ranch residential housing projects.

Dushoff said investors deposited $5.7 million with Interstate to back the Champion Homes developments in Henderson. According to the complaint, Ferradino is accused of using the land as collateral to secure the investments and of then conveying the investors' collateral back to Champion Homes Corp. in order for the corporation to obtain more money from other lending sources, reusing the investors' collateral as security.

Dushoff said investors lost all their money in the Champion Homes project.

He confirmed that his office is in negotiations for a plea agreement, but said he would not comment on specifics until a deal is signed. He said he would accept nothing less than a guilty plea to a felony charge that would assure prison time and that the suspect would not be allowed to practice again in the state.

The complaint also accuses Ferradino of failing to notify investors that they no longer had any collateral securing their investments or that Ferradino was a 50 percent owner of Champion Homes Corp. It also said the corporation bought out Ferradino's interest in the company for $1.5 million shortly after the conveyance of the collateral to the corporation.

Interstate Mortgage was seized by the state Financial Institutions Division Nov. 2, 1999, after regulators cited the loss of collateral securing $5.7 million in loans.

At least five investors have filed suits accusing Ferradino of releasing liens securing investments without their knowledge.