Calif. man indicted in Las Vegas HOA theft case

LAS VEGAS -- A Beverly Hills, Calif., businessman who owned property in a Las Vegas condominium complex once cited as an example of association dues abuses has been indicted on felony embezzlement and theft charges accusing him of siphoning more than $1 million from a Las Vegas-area homeowners association.

Massoud Aaron Yashouafar, 50, is due Jan. 4 before Clark County District Judge Carolyn Ellsworth on a six-count criminal indictment handed up Friday in Las Vegas, Nevada state Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said Monday. Yashouafar could face decades in prison if convicted.

Yashouafar's lawyer in Las Vegas, David Chesnoff, said his client intends to plead not guilty to the three counts of theft of property by false pretenses and three counts of embezzlement.

"We look forward to doing our talking in court," Chesnoff said.

As treasurer of the Paradise Spa Home Owners Association board, Yashouafar funneled insurance checks for two fires at the complex in September 2009 and January 2010 to his own accounts, according to the indictment.

Masto said the checks for more than $400,000 each were deposited in an out-of-state bank account that Yashouafar controlled, and that the Las Vegas condo owners whose properties were damaged had to find another place to live while they continued to make Paradise Spa mortgage payments.

Bank records also showed that Yashouafar wired more than $250,000 out of a Paradise Spa operating account in September 2009 for his own use, the attorney general said.

During the 2011 Legislature, Nevada lawmakers cited Paradise Spa as a place where a single owner bought half of the homes then stopped paying association dues, pushing the HOA to a deficit of about $1 million and putting unit owners in danger of foreclosure and having utilities shut off.