Thursday, Sept. 19, 2002 | 11:13 a.m.
The Nevada secretary of state's office is asking donors associated with Vestin Mortgage who gave nearly $160,000 to attorney general candidate John Hunt's campaign to respond to allegations the money was given illegally.
The secretary of state's office sent letters to 41 donors on Wednesday after receiving a complaint from Republican attorney general candidate Brian Sandoval's campaign.
The complaint, filed by Sandoval's campaign Chairman Pete Ernaut, alleges the donations indicate possible violation of a state law prohibiting making campaign contributions in the name of another person because some substantial donations were made by some lower-level employees who have not given money to other campaigns.
Vestin Mortgage founder and Chief Executive Mike Shustek said in a Tuesday interview that his company's employees were "very impressed with John Hunt and decided to give him money."
He said there was nothing improper about the $158,000 in donations given to the Democratic candidate from Vestin and people and entities associated with the company. The donations account for more than 25 percent of Hunt's total $580,000 purse as of the Aug. 22 campaign reporting period deadline.
"Were these employees simply serving as a pass-through for Mr. Shustek to circumvent contribution limits?" Ernaut asked in his letter to Secretary of State Dean Heller, the state's top election official.
State law limits contributions from individuals or individual businesses at $5,000 for the primary and $5,000 for the general.
Shustek Investments gave the $10,000 limit on July 23 and Shustek's related businesses, Vestin Mortgage and Del Mar Mortgage each gave $10,000 on June 28.
Other $10,000 donors were:
Other employees or those related to Vestin donated anywhere from $250 to $7,500.
In interviews with the Sun, donors said they gave the contributions because Hunt impressed them.
Leilani Bradford, who co-owns Fairway Executives with husband Lance Bradford, said the company's donation came from the company's funds.
"We believe in the candidate," she said. "It was because Lance and Mr. Shustek work together, and they thought Mr. Hunt would be fair to them."
When asked what she meant by being fair, she said she "probably shouldn't talk anymore," and referred calls to her husband, who did not return a message.
Silvia Buckley, assistant to Vestin executive Steve Byrne, gave Hunt $5,000.
"I think he's the best man for the job," Buckley said.
Buckley said the $5,000 was from her own personal funds, and she added she was not loaned or given any money for the contribution.
Telephone messages left Wednesday afternoon with about a dozen other people or executives in companies who donated were not immediately returned.
In an interview, Ernaut said a review of mortgage records of the donors and other campaign reports suggested to him that some of the lower-ranking employees gave as much money to Hunt as they put as a down payment on their home.
"There are quite a few things that probably warrant more investigation," Ernaut said. "We've put this in the hands of the secretary of state's office."
But Hunt's campaign manager Dan Hart said the complaint is "the lowest form of political trickery."
"I thought this stuff went out with Richard Nixon," Hart said. "This is beyond what's acceptable in a political campaign. They are casting aspersions on people without any shred of evidence."
The Vestin connections have drawn scrutiny because a complaint has been filed with the state Financial Institutions Division alleging 749 counts of illegal behavior by Vestin Mortgage and its related businesses.
That complaint, filed by developer Howard Bulloch who has previously sued Shustek and lost, was filed in March of 2001 and re-submitted in April of 2002 after the state division took no action on it.
On Tuesday a lawyer representing Bulloch filed a writ in District Court seeking to compel the state division to act on the complaint.
Scott Walshaw, commissioner of the state Financial Institutions Division, said this morning that the complaint has been reviewed twice and his staff did not find any violations.
He said the supervising examiner, in the second review, determined there was no disciplinary action the division could take.
Walshaw said there is a civil lawsuit pending in the case and that may be the remedy of the complaintant.
Shustek said in an interview with the Sun that his company has done nothing wrong, and that the complaint is from a "disgruntled borrower."
The campaign contributions became ammunition for the Sandoval campaign after Hunt -- in three separate debate appearances -- raised questions about how Sandoval would act as attorney general given the contributions his campaign has received from Nevada Power and a lobbyist from the nuclear energy industry who backs Yucca Mountain.
Hunt said Sandoval would be less likely to prosecute cases against those campaign supporters and said he could not serve as the state's leading consumer advocate with ties to consumer advocate's biggest nemesis of the year, Nevada Power.
Hart reiterated criticism of Sandoval's campaign Wednesday by mentioning nearly $300,000 in campaign contributions Sandoval has received from the gaming industry he once regulated as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission.
Sandoval has raised more than $900,000 for the race, putting gaming at just about one-third of his total campaign chest. A number of gaming companies have given money to Sandoval's campaign.
Steve George, spokesman for the secretary of state's office, said his office is now waiting for official responses from Hunt's campaign and the various donors before determining the next step to take.
"An investigation could be launched at that point," George said.
A probe could be conducted by the state's Division of Investigations, which is headed by former Washoe County Sheriff and former Reno Police Chief Richard Kirkland. Kirkland would have the authority to subpoena bank records and other documents in the case.
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