MORNING LINE: Apex real estate deal involving Goodman goes south

  Mayor Oscar Goodman years ago disclosed his interest in a large land deal north of Las Vegas at Apex. It now appears that property’s sale is caught up in a Utah Ponzi scheme involving Val E. Southwick, who was unable to pay the $125.5 million purchase price.

  Goodman’s fellow landowners  are considered “insiders” by the Salt Lake Tribune, which filed a story based on a pending lawsuit.

  The Tribunes reported Friday that a group of "Las Vegas insiders took a $22 million down payment from" Southwick  and then foreclosed when he failed to pay, according to a lawsuit.

  "The group, which includes Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, knew or should have known that Val E. Southwick could not pay $125.5 million for the property in an industrial park north of Las Vegas for which they had paid less than $6 million, according to the lawsuit filed by Salt Lake City attorney Robert Wing," the Tribune reported."

  Southwick is in prison after pleading guilty to fraud charges. Wing is trying to recover money for those he defrauded.