Friday, March 9, 2007 | 7:01 a.m.
Documents suggesting Rohit Joshi, the owner's representative for Neonopolis, misrepresented his business relationship with a Hong Kong billionaire have prompted Las Vegas officials to take a closer look at Joshi.
"They have raised enough of a flag that the city needs to conduct an investigation," Councilman Steve Wolfson said.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman joined Wolfson in asking City Attorney Brad Jerbic to conduct a more comprehensive investigation of Joshi's background.
In addition, Goodman said he wanted to know more about Wirrulla Hayward LLC, which bought Neonopolis for $25 million in cash in June. Until recently, the mayor said, he had never heard of the company and thought Joshi owned Neonopolis.
This week, the City Council learned of eight-year-old correspondences suggesting Joshi acted on behalf of Shun Tak Holdings, a Hong Kong business owned by billionaire Stanley Ho, on several deals in the United States without the company's permission.
Joshi has denied any impropriety in his business dealings with Ho and Shun Tak. Joshi produced a document that says he had Shun Tak's permission to pursue deals in this country.
Jonn Keamy, a debt collector representing several people with civil judgments against Joshi and the man who supplied the Shun Tak documents, addressed the City Council on Wednesday. Keamy said he believes Joshi's unwillingness to pay his civil judgments and a string of failed projects should make the city question his involvement in Neonopolis.
Despite Keamy's comments, the council granted Joshi an extension of a contract to provide validated parking in the city's lot to Neonopolis customers, but only for 30 days and not the 90 he had requested.
Goodman cited his concerns about the Shun Tak documents and Joshi's continued inability to attract tenants to the structure among the reasons for the shorter deal. He said he didn't recommend scrapping the agreement altogether because that would only punish the few existing tenants, including the Poker Dome and Jillian's.
City officials view the struggling Neonopolis as a key project in downtown redevelopment.
On Wednesday, Wolfson asked Jerbic what protection the city had if the venture continued to struggle. The city owns the land under the building and the parking lot but doesn't control the businesses. Jerbic said an $18 million deed was added to the structure when it was sold last year. If the owners fail to pay maintenance agreements or other costs, the city could move to collect that money.
Jerbic previously investigated the civil judgments against Joshi when they came to light in December and determined there wasn't cause to question Joshi's involvement in Neonopolis.
Jerbic said the new investigation will begin immediately and will address all of the concerns raised by the mayor and the council.
Keamy, who represents Las Vegas businessman John Mullen and former pro baseball player Darren Daulton, said he was satisfied with the council's actions.
"I think the mayor and the council were fair," Keamy said. "All they can do is look into the claims."
He is not happy, however, that Jerbic will head the investigation. "In the past he has turned a blind eye to the facts," Keamy said.
Joshi said he is confident that the city will find nothing inappropriate in his dealings with Shun Tak .
Meanwhile, he said his focus will be on his biggest concern, getting merchants into Neonopolis.
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