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Article Courtesy of The Las Vegas Review-Journal By Jeff German Published December 2, 2011
The fire-damaged home at the center of the arson and insurance fraud case against attorney Nancy Quon was put up for public auction this week, but there were no bidders.
So the Florida-based mortgage company, which had foreclosed on the two-story Rhodes Ranch home, took it back.
Western Progressive, LLC, the trustee for the sale, had sought a $390,000 opening bid.
Paramedics revived an unconscious Quon at the scene of the fire and concluded she had overdosed on drugs. The nine-count indictment also charged Quon's live-in boyfriend, former Las Vegas police officer William Ronald Webb, 43, in the arson conspiracy. The indictment accuses Quon of "wilfully" and "maliciously" setting fire to the home. Then, with Webb's help, Quon defrauded State Farm Insurance into paying for temporary housing for the couple and structural repairs to the home knowing that the fire was not caused by accident, the indictment alleges. Quon has denied setting the fire and trying to kill herself. During the course of the investigation, Las Vegas police learned that Quon had hidden away roughly $5.6 million in offshore accounts. She paid publicist Mark Fierro more than $100,000 from those accounts to influence media coverage of her criminal cases, prosecutors alleged. Lately, Quon has been locked in a battle with State Farm over its failure to pay her $250,000 to $300,000 for damage to the contents of the home. Quon had obtained a preliminary injunction to prohibit State Farm from questioning her further under oath about the fire. She contended the questioning could force her to assert her Fifth Amendment rights to avoid incriminating herself in the police investigation of the fire. A district judge, however, recently ruled that the insurance company had a right to ask Quon more questions. Quon is facing other civil legal action. SMS Financial, an Arizona debt collector, is suing her in District Court to recover several million dollars worth of defaulted loans her law practice took out to pay the cost of pursuing construction defect litigation. Her law office landlord, Sahara Plazas, has filed a lawsuit against her and has said she owes rent. Quon has not been charged in the federal homeowners association investigation, but prosecutors have been working out plea deals with defendants aimed at getting their cooperation against higher-level players in the massive scheme to profit from the takeover of associations. Federal prosecutors have alleged that the co-conspirators stacked homeowners association boards with members who pushed for construction defect lawsuits against builders. The boards then steered legal and construction repair work to the co-conspirators. HOA scheme victims say plea deals ignore them Businesswoman targets Quon, others in HOA case Ex-HOA board member is ninth to get plea deal Attorney pleads guilty for role in HOA fraud Former property manager pleads guilty in HOA investigation Sixth defendant pleads guilty in HOA scheme Woman is fifth to plead guilty in federal HOA probe Fourth person pleads guilty in HOA fraud probe Third person pleads guilty in HOA fraud probe Second defendant pleads guilty in HOA case Las Vegas businessman enters guilty plea in federal HOA fraud case |
