Jury hears of corruption

Accountant Daniel Geiger on Wednesday detailed for jurors how Erin Kenny, as a corrupt Clark County commissioner, reaped dirty money that stretched from her posh home in Rhodes Ranch to off-shore accounts located half-way around the world.

Geiger, who first met Kenny in 1985, was her accountant and campaign finance manager from 1998 to 2002. He testified that once Kenny became a politician, "she was always planning and looking for ways to increase her wealth."

Geiger testified that starting in 1998, Kenny withdrew money from her campaign coffers to cover personal expenses, such as kitchen items at her new home in Rhodes Ranch. Using campaign contributions for personal matters is illegal.

Geiger said he fixed the campaign books by reducing the amount of campaign contributions listed on Kenny's financial disclosure forms.

Geiger agreed with Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Schiess' assessment that he "cooked the books."

Schiess said that after Geiger, Kenny hooked up with another collaborator for her greed and corruption, land broker Donald Davidson.

Davidson, 73, was charged in a 2005 indictment with paying Kenny $200,000 for help obtaining a zoning change and special use permit that paved the way for a CVS Pharmacy at Buffalo Drive and Desert Inn Road.

Federal prosecutors say Davidson's son, Lawrence, set up a secret trust account to hide the illicit payments.

Under oath Wednesday, Geiger explained how the trust fund was established.

He said that in mid-2001, Kenny's father, Charles Callin, told him Kenny stood to receive "a lot of money" if a certain vote went through.

"Someone was prepared to give her a large sum of cash," Geiger said. "The problem they were having was financial disclosure of the funds being received."

In August 2001, Geiger met Kenny and Donald Davidson for lunch. Kenny and Davidson discussed how to conceal the payment. At Davidson's request, Geiger met with Lawrence Davidson just days later.

Over the next month, Geiger and Lawrence Davidson filed documents to open an account in the Cook Islands, south of Hawaii about midway between Australia and South America. To further conceal the trust, they hired a corporation in Israel to oversee the funds.

Establishment of the account was complete and money was wired to the Cook Islands by December 2001, Geiger said. That same month, Lawrence Davidson and Geiger created a Nevada limited liability corporation, called Ovington Nevada, to which the $200,000 would be transferred.

Tommy Fehrman, the land broker involved in the CVS project, testified earlier this week that Donald Davidson was due to receive $100,000 on Dec. 20, 2001, and $100,000 on Jan. 22, 2002, for successfully lobbying commissioners to approve the zoning change and the special use permit. But Donald Davidson directed Fehrman to issue the checks to Lawrence Davidson, Fehrman testified.

A year after the off-shore account was created, concerns began to mount.

"The Cook Islands were going to disclose all U.S. citizens with interests in trusts in the Cook Islands," Geiger testified, adding that the island's governing body ordered full disclosure as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Geiger and Lawrence Davidson considered moving the money to the Channel Islands, but Kenny directed them to bring it back to the United States, Geiger told jurors.

Over the next few months, Lawrence Davidson wrote two checks totaling $174,650 to Ovington Nevada, Geiger testified, after Schiess showed him copies of the checks.

The deposit did not amount to $200,000 because of fees associated with shipping the money overseas, Geiger said.

One of Geiger's first glimpses into how Kenny operated was in late 1999 or early 2000, he said. Strip club owner Michael Galardi handed Geiger an envelope with $10,000 cash for Kenny, Geiger said.

Geiger testified that he informed Kenny of the money.

"I asked Erin, 'Do you want to report this as a campaign contribution?' " Geiger testified. "She said, 'No.' "

So, the cash was not listed on her campaign finance reports. Kenny's father, who has since died, swung by Geiger's office occasionally to take cash from the envelope, Geiger said.

During that time, Kenny told Geiger she was receiving $3,000 a month from another source she did not name, he said. The indictment against Davidson alleges he delivered $3,000 a month on behalf of the Ghermezian family, Canadian-based developers, after Kenny voted in favor of their proposed Spring Valley casino. The Ghermezians have denied any wrongdoing and have not been charged.

Kenny, Galardi and former Clark County commissioners Lance Malone, Dario Herrera and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey were ensnared in a federal investigation into elected officials taking bribes from Galardi.

Kenny, Galardi and Malone, Galardi's bagman, pleaded guilty. Herrera and Kincaid-Chauncey were convicted last year, and Kenny was a prosecution witness. She is expected to testify against Davidson today.

Geiger said he remembers well the day in May 2003 when federal agents stormed Galardi's Cheetah's strip club. In addition to being Kenny's accountant, Geiger also kept the books for the Galardi family.

Geiger said he received a call from another client about the raid. During that call, Kenny attempted to reach Geiger and left him a message.

"I received a call from Erin Kenny stating she had something very important to talk about," said Geiger.

He agreed to meet Kenny at Foothills Express bar and grill, but she never showed. Geiger later received another message from Kenny, asking him to meet her at the office of her lawyer, Frank Cremen. When Kenny came out of her meeting with Cremen, Geiger walked her to her car.

"She said to me, 'Are you going to turn on me?' " Geiger said. "I told her, 'We have to tell the truth. We can't obstruct justice.' "

Geiger said he was prepared to testify before a grand jury that year, but his attorney advised against it.

On May 18, Geiger signed a plea agreement that charges him with honest services fraud and makes him eligible for more leniency at his sentencing as long as he provides substantial assistance to prosecutors.