Mud has been slung at Las Vegas City Council Ward 1 candidate Laurie Bisch in a mailer by a mysterious company that also was behind attack ads in the Mesquite mayor's race.

Bisch's campaign blames Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian for the mailer that hit mailboxes Wednesday.

"It's a desperate attempt by the Tarkanian campaign to smear Laurie Bisch," said campaign consultant Dan Hart. "One thing you have to ask when you see these things is, who benefits?"

Tarkanian vehemently denied any involvement or knowledge of the mailer, which suggests Bisch befriended an elderly man in order to inherit his estate. Tarkanian said she has been running a clean campaign and was in the lead.

"It doesn't help us at all. We're doing well keeping a strong positive message out there. We're winning this race," Tarkanian said. "I wish to heck whoever sent that didn't, whoever that was."

She said the mailer was of "lousy" quality.

The mailer said it was paid for by Nevada Policy Group, a company formed on March 2.

Yale Cunningham was named as the director, secretary and treasurer. Cunningham, who could not be reached for comment, was briefly executive director of the Nevada Republican Party last year. The address for Nevada Policy Group is an apparently vacant house at 1038 Franklin Ave.

The Nevada Policy Group also was behind an automated call earlier this month that attacked Bisch and said she was spreading lies about Tarkanian, Hart said.

Whoever is behind the group could be in violation of campaign finance rules.

Tuesday was the deadline to submit reports about expenditures and contributions to campaigns and political groups. The city clerk's office had no report from the Nevada Policy Group as of Wednesday. But reports could be sent by certified mail.

The Nevada Policy Group is also named in mailers in the Mesquite mayor's race. Three mailers have been sent against Mayor Bill Nicholes, who is under investigation by the FBI. The attacks hint at allegations that the mayor participated in back-room deals and payouts involving developments.

Nicholes denied any wrongdoing at a Monday news conference.

The mailer in the Las Vegas Ward 1 race raised the issue that Bisch was named in the will of an elderly man she befriended.

In July 2004, Anita J. Giovanetti sued Bisch, claiming the Las Vegas police officer befriended her father and wrongfully inherited his estate. The father, Arthur Albert Laurie, was a recluse for decades who lived at 2720 Pinto Lane for years. He was a retired railroad engineer with about $1 million in real estate and cash.

The complaint said Bisch met Laurie at his house in 2000. In February 2001, Laurie changed his will to make Bisch the beneficiary of most of his assets. In his previous will, Laurie was going to leave half of his estate to Giovanetti. The new will gave her only $1,000. The rest was split among other relatives, Bishop Gorman High School and UNLV.

Laurie died in May 2004 at the age of 91. Bisch changed the locks and didn't let Laurie's son into the house.

In her counterclaim, Bisch wrote that Giovanetti was convicted of physically abusing her father, and that Giovanetti falsely accused her of stealing Laurie's money. Bisch wrote that she had a history of helping the elderly.

The lawsuit was dropped in July 2005 after the two sides settled. Bisch paid Giovanetti $40,000 as part of the settlement.