Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Crime:

Seven locals arrested for money laundering in real estate scheme

Seven Las Vegas residents were arrested by federal authorities this week on charges of wire fraud and money laundering stemming from a fraudulent timeshare resale scheme.

The seven, plus one Los Angeles-based co-conspirator, are accused of soliciting advanced payments from victims in exchange for promising to provide willing buyers for timeshare properties or points, according to a statement from the United States Attorney’s Office. Instead of following through, the conspirators, acting as the Jariv Companies, simply kept the payments, pocketing more than $6 million between Feb. 1, 2011, and Jan. 31, 2012.

The alleged Las Vegas-based conspirators in the plot are: James Jariv, 62; Alexandar Jariv, 25; Thresa Lloyd, 42; Vardra Jariv, 72; Jiwon Jariv, 33; Ronald Muise, 50; and Michael Muise, 27. Also arrested was Leon Avedikian, 43, of Los Angeles.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the conspirators maintained offices in Las Vegas, Houston, Chicago and the Los Angeles-area from which they emailed and called timeshare owners, saying they had buyers for their timeshare interests.

The Jariv Companies were registered and conducted business in multiple states, including Nevada, Texas, California, Illinois and Washington.

The conspirators solicited fees ranging from hundreds of dollars to several thousand dollars from about 1,000 people, the attorney’s office said.

The conspirators falsely told victims that the fees were refundable and would be used to secure the owner's place in an acquisition involving corporate buyers.

Varda Jariv made her initial court appearance Thursday. The rest of the defendants are scheduled to appear on Friday.

Each faces two counts of conspiracy, one count of wire and mail fraud, and one count of money laundering.

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