Film producer charged in fraud involving seafood
Federal investigators have interrupted the movie-producing career, such as it is, of longtime Vegas guy Jed Baron.
The street continues to buzz about the wire-fraud indictment of Baron, whose flashy lifestyle has included a producer credit for the movie "Narc," olive oil importing to Strip resorts and a previous felony fraud conviction. Baron is associated with Jag Productions and ItalVegas.
The latest criminal case against him is being brought out of the Eastern District of California and is related to a malodorous seafood deal that reeks of deception. It's alleged that Baron took former Fitzgerald's Reno casino owner Preston Smart for more than $4.37 million, including
$1.69 million as part of an elaborate scam involving organically grown seafood from Ireland.
Baron already has lost a $13.1 million judgment in a lawsuit brought by Smart. Now he has lost his freedom.
It's not the first time.
In 2005, Baron was charged with wire fraud in Long Island, N.Y., U.S. District Court in relation to a scam that separated investors in the Alec Baldwin movie "The Devil and Daniel Webster." It turns out the devil was in the details. After pleading guilty, Baron was sentenced in 2007 to a year in prison. He was ordered to pay $230,000 in restitution.
He was still on probation at the time of his recent arrest. An arrest warrant on five felony counts was returned against Baron on May 31. A search warrant was executed in June on Baron's home office in Las Vegas, where reliable street sources inform me the computers were seized.
Baron, 54, was booked at the Sacramento County jail on June 26. He entered a not guilty plea on June 27 in federal court, and a detention order was signed the next day. He was jailed without bail, according to available documents.
Back in the 1990s, Baron's name was associated with the scandalous brokering of so-called "Weimar bonds," according to a 1998 Dallas Observer article.
Las Vegas history buffs might remember that Baron is the son of the late Teamsters official Alvin Baron, who helped Argent Corp. boss Allen R. Glick receive a loan from the mobbed-up Central States Pension Fund to buy the Stardust.
NO CONTEST: Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto this week weighed in on the controversial outcome of the June 9 welterweight championship fight between favorite Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley, which resulted in a split-decision victory for the underdog. Her message: Contentious outcomes aside, there was nothing out of the ordinary to report.
In his June 11 letter to Masto, Top Rank, Inc. CEO Bob Arum wrote, "I am not asking you to in any way investigate the determination by the judges from Nevada, nor am I asking you to give any consideration to seeking a change in that final outcome. Instead, I would ask that you would consider an investigation that would set the record straight on boxing in Nevada for the entire world to see."
Will Masto's attempt to "set the record straight" succeed?
Only until the next controversial decision, I suspect.
WYNN'S GIFT: Casino billionaire Steve Wynn's "anonymous" $2 million gift to local families is reaping a large windfall of positive media.
As of Thursday morning on Google, the story had 370 appearances on news outlets and websites that included The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle and USA Today.
The largesse came in the form of $500 gift cards distributed to 4,000 needy local families through the United Way. Wynn revealed the confidential donation to Review-Journal columnist Norm Clarke.
Earlier this year, Wynn was criticized by some media for agreeing to donate $135 million to the diminutive University of Macau. Wynn's Macau casino interests have proven immensely profitable.
Wynn's net worth was
$2.5 billion as of March, according to Forbes.
Have an item for the Bard of the Boulevard? Email comments and contributions to Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith. Follow him on Twitter @jlnevadasmith.
