Desai house sells for $2 million
While scouting for a new home in the exclusive Red Rock Country Club in March, attorney Robert Kolesar and his wife, Irais, were instantly smitten by a beauty fronting the golf course.
“We were just out looking and, bam, this was the one,” said Kolesar. “We didn’t even know he owned it.”
He, in this instance, is Dipak Desai, the former doctor whose now-defunct Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada is accused of spreading hepatitis C infections among patients. Nevertheless, the Kolesars will go ahead with the deal, having received U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval on Tuesday to buy the home from Desai’s bankruptcy trustee.
For $2 million the Kolesars will get six bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms, a four-car garage: 8,725 square feet of home on 0.57 acres.
“This is the first time we have bought anything through the courts,” said Kolesar, whose Kolesar and Leatham firm has an extensive corporate practice.
The online listing by Realty Executives of Nevada broker George Durkin mentioned a court-ordered sale but did not name Desai. The broker first listed the home at $2.5 million in November, then dropped it to $2.2 million early this year.
Desai and his wife, Kusum, bought the home new in 2004 for $3.4 million.
According to court papers filed by trustee William Leonard, the sale proceeds will have to cover $1.27 million in mortgages and tax liens, plus a $120,000 sales commission. Desai has claimed a $550,000 exemption, which would leave less than $100,000 for creditors.
In addition, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Mike Nakagawa ruled that Leonard could proceed with an auction of Desai’s personal effects. In doing so, Nakagawa turned down Kusum Desai’s attempt to claim a $5,000 exemption on top of her husband’s, even though she is not in bankruptcy.
A catalog last year valued the personal property at $28,000, spanning bedroom and dining room sets to a red, white and blue elephant that once stood in Dipak Desai’s office. Nakagawa will allow the Desais to keep items with a total value of his $17,000 exemption.
Contact reporter Tim O’Reiley at toreiley@review
journal.com or 702-387-5290.