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We've seen a lot of media attention
here in the state of Nevada, particularly in Las Vegas,
regarding homeowners association fraud.
And we saw a lot of schemes here where
there was rigging of elections, where homeowners' boards were
stacked, and decisions were made about how
to go about spending money that the homeowners contribute
to maintain their residence for improper purposes.
Homeowners association fraud can be broken down
into three distinct categories.
Category one would be embezzlement, or theft.
Category two would be election rigging.
And category three would be bribery.
Embezzlement involves taking money
that's intended to be used for the benefit of the homeowners
or condo association owners and using it
for some other purpose.
Such as, for example, if a member of a homeowners' board
paid their own bills with money that
belonged to the association or charged things, charged meals,
charged personal meals to the homeowners association
when they were not being used for some community service.
Election rigging has to do with falsifying ballots, engaging
in behavior to manipulate people into voting
for certain members of the board in an immoral or unscrupulous
manner, by offering some types of favoritism or kickbacks.
This would be election rigging.
And election rigging is a felony here in the state of Nevada
and carries a penalty of up to four years in state prison.
Finally, bribery would be an arrangement
whereby members of the homeowners association board
steer a certain contract.
It could be landscaping, it could be pool cleaning,
it could be doing repainting of the structures
inside the homeowners association,
where they pay a contract to the provider of the service
and money is clandestinely returned
to them as a kickback for steering
certain projects to a particular vendor.