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Pahrump developer pleads not guilty in Ponzi scheme

Pahrump developer Hans Seibt pleaded not guilty Monday in District Court to theft and securities fraud charges stemming from a massive Ponzi scheme.

Prosecutors suspect the scheme bilked investors, mostly seniors, out of millions of dollars.

Seibt, 70, who is on house arrest, faces 27 felony charges in a criminal indictment obtained last month by the Nevada attorney general's office.

District Judge Donald Mosley set a May 7 trial.

Seibt left many investors without their life savings after he filed for bankruptcy in September 2008, reporting $70 million in debts.

Prosecutors allege Seibt used two of his companies, HSLV Development Corp. and Clark and Nye County Development Corp., to solicit investments of $10,000 or more.

He offered trust deeds, joint-venture agreements and subscription agreements, all of which were supposed to be secured by parcels of land Seibt was holding in Nye County. He is charged, however, with exaggerating the value of the land.

Seibt also told investors they would receive a return of 10 percent to 12 percent on their investments, which ended up being a lie, prosecutors allege.

Instead of buying the land with the investment money, Seibt used the cash for his personal expenses and to pay off other investors, prosecutors allege.

The FBI also has been investigating the scheme, which involved hundreds of investors in Nevada and around the country.

Bankruptcy Court investigators had trouble locating assets belonging to Seibt to divide up among the investors.

Seibt is being represented in the criminal case by a deputy public defender.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.

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