Attorney General resolves two Las Vegas financial cases

Wednesday, May 8, 2002 | 9:46 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa says her office resolved two criminal cases in Las Vegas on Tuesday -- one involving securities fraud and the other a false insurance claim.

Robert Marcus Friend pleaded guilty to the gross misdemeanor of conspiracy to commit security fraud by bilking a Las Vegas couple out of $40,000.

Deputy Attorney General Tracey Brierly said Friend repaid the couple $10,000 and has agreed to reimburse them an additional $30,000 over the next 10 months. Friend said he operated an import-export company, MEI World Industries that imported shoes and marble from China.

He told investors they could earn 21 percent to 25 percent on their money in one year and he also failed to register the stock with the Secretary of State's Office.

In the second case District Judge Valorie Vega placed Harry Bragg, 64, of Las Vegas on two years' probation and ordered him to reimburse the National Alliance Insurance Company $3,935.

Bragg said he suffered wind and rain damage in 1998 from a storm and submitted receipts for the work done. But Deputy Attorney General Greg Hojnowski said the receipts were actually estimates for the job. The work was never done.

Bragg was also ordered to pay the state's insurance fraud unit $1,000 to cover investigative costs, in addition to the $3,935 reimbursement.