Ex-commissioner accused of misusing investor cash

A former Nye County commissioner allegedly misappropriated $2.4 million from a group of 30 to 40 investors primarily from Pahrump and Las Vegas, according to a lawsuit filed in District Court.

Henry Neth, president of High Valley Ranch Estates and a prominent real estate developer in Pahrump, signed a confession of judgment in January and agreed to pay $725,000 plus interest and attorneys' fees to settle the debt with about a dozen individual plaintiffs.

Neth, who led a strong effort to close brothels in Nye County when he was chairman of the commission in 2004, paid $75,000 at the time of the judgment but has not paid anything on the balance, plaintiffs' attorney Richard McKnight said Wednesday.

Several investors appealed to the attorney general's office to take action against Neth, but have had no success pursuing criminal prosecution.

"Debtors' prisons were abolished in the 1800s," McKnight said. "It's up to us to go out and find some assets. There are some. He's got land, but of course, he's got a big mortgage on that land."

The investors, who each put in anywhere from $25,000 to $200,000, bought into Neth's proposed High Valley Ranch Estates development near Kingman, Ariz.

Under Stockton Jane LLC, they raised about $1.4 million toward the purchase of 252 acres at $23,500 an acre. The land had potential for 880 to 945 residential units. Total investment would be about $16.5 million.

The lawsuit alleges that the parcel to be acquired in the name of Stockton Jane was instead purchased under the names of Neth and his partner, Eric Frye, who is named in the suit. Investor funds were diverted to another entity, Eagle View Group, a property of no interest to the investors.

"So he took our money and bought land for himself," said Jonathan Baktari, a Las Vegas doctor and one of the plaintiffs in the suit. "We don't even own the land and never will, even though he pretended like we did."

Neth did not return calls Thursday for comments.

Neth actively buys, sells and develops real estate in Pahrump under Provenza-Neth Properties, said Sue Alcorn, former employee at Chicago Title and a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Nye County administration recently expanded its Pahrump office by moving into a new building constructed by Provenza-Neth at 401 S. Frontage Road.

"His reputation is he walks around town with a fat cigar," Alcorn said. "When he's asked by anybody about this stuff, he says, 'It's all taken care of.' People do not know what this man has done."

Alcorn said she was told about the investment opportunity by a close friend who knows Neth "on a personal level" and has invested with him in the past.

"She's shocked he did this. I just lost my job. I'm going to be on unemployment. He took everything I own," Alcorn said.

Investor Greg Pender of Arizona said he never received any documents or notes about his money being diverted to Eagle View Group.

Pender went in to the deal with his college buddy, Greg Savran, and Savran's father, Steven, another Las Vegas doctor. "How can he still be operating when he has judgments against him? He's still trying to get people's money, and what's he going to do with it?"

Attorney McKnight said Neth and Frye claim they're close to getting a loan for the Kingman property, which has gone into foreclosure.

Pender says that's a familiar theme.

"All we hear is, 'We're going to pay it back, we're going to pay it back.' Everything we've heard is a pack of lies," he said.

A 40-year resident of Pahrump and 1976 graduate of Pahrump Valley High School, Neth was elected to the Nye County Commission in 2000 and served as chairman for two years.

"My firm belief is that we all have to work together in Nye County," he told the Pahrump Valley Times when he was running for re-election in 2004. "If that means making compromises, if that means embracing the change that is coming, then that's what I can be counted on for."

Neth went to Universal Technical Institute in Phoenix and worked as a heavy-equipment mechanic at Nevada Test Site for 15 years. He got his real estate license in 1997 and went into business with his sister-in-law at Provenza Realty.

Neth owns a Subway sandwich shop in Pahrump and has another business, Tlaquepaque Frame Shop, with his wife. He also has a couple of small investment companies.

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.