Corporate Raiders of Las Vegas Launching Campaign to Move Oakland Raiders to Sin City; Fertittas Making Slick Moves to Liquidate Assets for NFL Team Purchase

By: Rich Bergeron

As a passionate NFL fan who happens to also have unique insight into the number one mixed martial arts organization on the planet, I'd like this article serve as a formal warning to the National Football League...

The Fertittas owning the Oakland Raiders or having anything to do with that storied franchise, or any other NFL team with such a solid football history will forever taint your organization. To put it bluntly: the brothers Fertitta are bad news, period.

It is a wonder to me that the Fertitta brothers (now through Red Rock Resorts) can still legally hold and profit off a gaming license in the state of Nevada in light of their own HISTORY. Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III are not now, and they never will be... real "team" players. Here are three reasons why:

1.) They are always paying themselves first in every business deal they design, and they will do whatever it takes to create vast wealth off of shady and ruthless business practices.

2.) They have a documented history of abusing the bankruptcy courts to benefit themselves off the backs of hundreds of innocent investors.

3.) The Fertitta ownership of the UFC is a prime example of why they would be the worst possible owners of an NFL team the league could even imagine. UFC fighters are often saddled with egregious contracts that are riddled with complicated performance clauses and other nuances that make it very difficult for them to maximize their earning potential.

These slick Vegas casino baron brothers might be making stadium plans after collecting a boatload of liquid assets through their IPO of Station Casinos, but they are far from suitable owners for a major sports franchise in the NFL.

In their case, NFL ought to stand for "No Frank and Lorenzo."

The Oakland Raiders would be a great fit in Las Vegas, don't get me wrong. I'd love to see that city with an official NFL team, and it would generate local and international interest. I lived in Las Vegas for about two years (thanks in part to the Fertittas and their lawyers), and the city needs something like a big NFL stadium to stimulate the local economy and bring a different demographic to the area to enjoy something other than gambling and showgirls.

The main problem here with the proposed move is the movers. There are plenty of other fair players and sports enthusiasts based in Las Vegas who would be better ambassadors for the sport of football. NFL officials, please beware of these evil-minded brothers who wield an iron fist over the sport of mixed martial arts as it is. Even if they divest themselves from their casinos and the UFC, bringing them onboard the big NFL ownership bus means bringing their whole ugly past with them. It sends a bad message to honest people everywhere...nice guys finish last and greed is great.

The prior business moves and absolute disregard for the people they built their fortunes off the backs of is proof enough of the Fertitta brothers being unfit for NFL ownership. If there is any way to prevent any sale of an NFL team to this brotherhood, NFL officials should take that course of action and seek other investors who are unrelated to the Fertittas and their ugly shadow cast by a history of family corruption and financial scheming. The Oakland Raiders may need a figurative Hail Mary to stay alive in the league, but involving the Fertittas in their franchise as financial backers is like inviting the devil himself to be part of the ownership group. The Oakland Raiders can choose from a multitude of "lesser evils" in Sin City to build the franchise on a new frontier.

As an NFL fan who appreciates the growth of the sport amidst so many challenges like the concussion situation and the criminal tendencies exhibited by so many players in the league, I look at Fertitta ownership of an NFL team as a stain on the sport it will never be able to erase. I consider Fertitta ownership of an NFL team to be a crime against the sport itself.

I sincerely hope the National Football League engages in a due dilligence investigation into the past business dealings of the Fertitta Brothers before they hand Lorenzo and Frank the keys to Raiders Kingdom. Their civil litigation history alone is enough to raise plenty of concerns as to their ability to fairly manage such an undertaking without resorting to their familiar MO of scheming and scamming to line their own pockets. The NFL is rife with enough scandal without the shade these two brothers bring to the collective bargaining table.

The Wonderful Pom Return Bomb

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Exhibit 1


Exhibit 2


Exhibit 3


Exhibit 4


Exhibit 5

The "Blue Pom" Pre-emptive Strike

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1-2

NOT SO "TRUST" WORTHY AFTER ALL (PART 2)

By: Rich Bergeron

David R. Herzog is the Liquidation Trustee for the Xyience, Inc. bankruptcy I am embroiled in out in Las Vegas, Nevada. He and I have had limited personal interaction by email and never met in person. Instead, Herzog left the meeting and conversing up to an assistant of sorts who takes care of all the details in complex cases like the Xyience saga.

Jon Backman (at left) is Herzog's counsel, and so far he's handled much of the grunt work for Herzog regarding the bankruptcy and several adversary cases filed against those who allegedly defrauded the company in past years.

I met with Backman myself this past February, and I shared a great deal of information and evidence with him. He used some of the paperwork I provided him to prosecute his cases against some of the perpetrators who swindled Xyience along the way. We worked well together while it lasted, and as we tried to hammer out a settlement, I provided a few more clues and some important insight. Over time, though, it appeared to me that Backman was stringing me along, promising to take action to help me only to fail to follow up on multiple occasions.

For instance, Backman agreed time and again that the company's initial $25 million case against me should be dismissed, starting with his first contact with me in December of 2009 (CLICK ON IMAGE BELOW TO SEE FULL SIZE):



It should have taken Backman just a few hours time to draw up a motion for dismissal, serve it, file it, and get a hearing. Instead, he apparently did nothing but ignore my case. After a while, I started to understand the reality of the situation and that this guy might not be the kind of champion lawyer he seems to want to pretend to be when he needs something.

I decided I would have to file first to get Backman and Herzog to take me seriously, as Backman insisted the maximum amount Herzog would settle for would be $5,000. Even when I agreed to that amount, though, Backman never showed me as much of a draft of any pleading. He also never provided a draft of any agreement that stipulated our terms or any written timeline for any realization of such a settlement. The communication was all only by email and by phone. Nothing with a signature. It is a prime example of flat out, pure legal delay. Backman and Herzog simply sat on this case like all the lawyers before them did.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

Eventually, I broke off communication completely with Backman. I told him I was going to block all his email accounts, and I dropped off his radar for a while. Meanwhile I compiled the legal documents it would take to blow this case wide open. During my time formulating these crucial filings, I decided it would be a good time to give Mr. Backman one last opportunity to save face for his own sake and for the estate's benefit. I sent him an email message telling him a few hints about my plans to file new material and offering one last chance for a civil conversation if he wanted to call me. Not long after I sent the message, he called. We compromised yet again (The first settlement was supposed to pay out $5,000 to drop the estate from the counterclaim and the sanctions motion claims), and Backman made another new offer:

Thanks Rich. Have you filed your amended defamation claim? If so, would you email it to me?

Do you want to do a settlement as follows:

1. I pay you $5,000 for the Rule 9011;

2. I dismiss the claims against you;

3. You are allowed to pursue the remaining defamation claim against the company (which I would defend, and perhaps we could settle down the road).

If so, then I would recommend such a resolution to the trustee.


Jon


I accepted these terms, and I made it clear I wanted Backman to move on it as soon as he could. He sent the above email to me on November 4, 2010, and we continued being civil and trying to work things out for almost two more weeks until I began to realize more pressure needed to be applied to get Backman to do anything on my case. I knew I needed to file my latest pleadings and affidavits. So, I sent Backman and Herzog everything by email first, on November 15th, although I didn't have digital copies of the exhibits for the summary judgment motion and had to send those by snail mail.

Here's most of what went out to both Backman and Herzog that day:

Xyience Case Brief in Support of Summary Judgment By Rich Bergeron


Affidavit in Support of Summary Judgment in Bergeron vs. Xyience Bankruptcy Case


Designation of Evidence For Motion For Summary Judgment


Motion For Summary Judgment


Affidavit In Support of Motion to Amend Sanctions Motion in Bergeron vs. Xyience Bankruptcy case


Xyience Case Motion to Amend Rule 9011 Sanctions by Rich Bergeron



I expected at least some kind of backlash from Mr. Backman of course, as much of the pleading material involves descriptions of my frustration with this attorney's behavior in support of fellow attorneys I'm seeking sanctions against. Instead of getting an immediate missive from the man himself, though, I was fortunate enough to get an email meant for him from the guy he was supposed to be representing: Liquidation Trustee David R. Herzog. The intercepted communication, obviously sent to me by accident, apparently never even made it to Backman's inbox. Since it was unrelated to settlement negotiations it is both admissible in court and ripe for publication, so here it is:

Gee Jon, and here I thought you were pursuing all these claims. Oh sorry I forgot, your not nearly the atty that Rich Bergeron believes he is; oh yes he is a legend in his own mind. Here is my concern, how do we get rid of this frivilous garbage without you spending gobs of time. I'm sure he doesn't comply with local rules if they are anything like the Northern District. You always told me he was crackpot, these pleadings prove it.

David

I SHOT RIGHT BACK WITH THIS:


David,

Disrespect will get you nowhere.

You probably didn't realize you sent this to me as well.

This "crackpot" gave your counsel a lot of information and
documentation on Xyience. This information helped win your cases. Mr.
Backman still doesn't even seem to know what my case is all about,
though. Neither do you.

I'm glad you just gave me more evidence that he's defamed me as well.

Not too smucking fart for a guy who's supposed to be a REAL attorney.

Good Day,

Rich

HE RESPONDED LATER (NOTE HIS MIS-SPELLING OF HIS OWN COUNSEL'S NAME) BY WRITING:

Sir,

Making threats to us does not resolve the situation. Bachman has made tremendous efforts in pursuing the litigation against the Fertitas and the other wrongdoers. Your disparaging remarks against him in your pleadings are reprehensible. What more can we do but vigorously pursue this litigation. I apologize to you for calling you a "crackpot" but let him have the peace to do his work undistracted by your litigation.

David Herzog

AFTER A FEW MORE BACK AND FORTH EXCHANGES HERZOG GAVE UP ARGUING:

Rich,

I don't want to bicker with you further, do what you think you need to do.

David

BACKMAN'S THOUGHTS ON THE LIQUIDATION TRUSTEE'S ACCIDENTAL FOOT IN MOUTH EPISODE WERE EVEN MORE REVEALING AND INTRIGUING UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES:

Rich ---

Apparently, David inadvertently sent the email to you when he meant to send it to me. Like I, he is quite distressed by what you have written in your motion to amend the sanction motion, and in the summary judgment counterclaim, both of which will distract my attention from critical matters in the Zyen/Fertitta case. I restrained my tongue because I know that getting into arguments with you about the damage you are doing to the case is pointless. But David was venting his frustration, thinking he was writing to me, but inadvertently sending it to you.

As for your comment that the remarks are slanderous, they are not because David did not publish them to anyone. They went solely to you.

David tells me that you and he exchanged further emails, but I have not seen them, so I can't comment. If you share them with me, then I will do so.


Jon

=====================================

Rich ---

I do not care whether you believe me. I did not receive David's email until you sent it to me. In fact, even when David emailed me to tell me of his error, he did not send me the email he had sent to you. As for Rule 9011, it has nothing to do with an email between an attorney and his client.

That being said, I regret that the events of today have occurred because, as you know, I have attempted to move past fighting with you, and have just accepted that you are going to do what you do --- and say what you say --- regardless of what I say. I did not like either of your motions, but I'll deal with them. There really is nothing for us to discuss about them: you have attacked my integrity, but I am a big boy and can take it. You should do the same with David's email to you and just let it go.

We'll speak soon I'm sure.



Jon

=====================================

Rich ---

I have to run to a meeting, but for the record, I never called you a crackpot. As I have told you, I believe that you are abusing the legal system with some of your pleadings, and I believe that, to some extent, because you are smart and hard-working, but severely misdirected, you can be dangerous. But I do not view you as a crackpot, and would not have used that term in describing you.

We'll speak soon.



Jon


FINALLY, BACKMAN DECIDED TO PLAY HARDBALL AND GIVE ME AN ULTIMATUM (WHICH I REFUSED TO BACK DOWN OR CAVE IN TO), OBVIOUSLY PUTTING HIS AND HERZOG'S OWN SELF-INTERESTS AHEAD OF THE ESTATE'S:

Rich ---

I don't know what you are trying to pull, but there is zero chance that the Trustee would settle your Rule 9011 claims, but let you bring a Rule 9011 motion against us the day after we paid you. We'd have to be out of our minds to do that, because then we'd be paying you $5,000 for nothing. At this point, we have not filed anything in your case, so you have no basis to file a Rule 9011 motion against either of us. In fact, if you did so, then you'd be subject to severe sanctions. And I am not going to file a settlement motion, or anything else, until you have signed an agreement saying that you will not pursue Rule 9011 motions against David or me. That was always the deal, and you know it.

Bottom line, and no further discussion: If you insist on retaining the right to pursue a Rule 9011 motion against the Debtor, the Trust Estate, David or me, then there is no settlement --- period. This is not negotiable. And if you do not accept it by 5:00 p.m. my time this evening, then our discussions are at an end, and we will cease responding to your email or speaking with you any further.



Jon

And now, because Backman and Herzog never volunteered any pleadings or demonstrated any general effort to move this case in any real direction, they use this fact as a sword against me. They claim this means they are not subject to Rule 9011 Sanctions, but they neglect to consider how liable they are for general sanctions. The problem with their backwards logic is I know the law.

The sanctions motion is not strictly a Rule 9011 motion. The motion asks the court to initiate its own ability to sanction offending parties. The pleading asks the court to provide sweeping relief for those injured by the blatant abuses of process and incessant delays wrapped up in the case. Backman and Herzog perpetrated much of the most recent delay, and at this point there is no reason not to name them to the amended motion for sanctions if I am given a chance to amend that motion.


I'LL SEE YOU IN COURT

Well, since I live thousands of miles away from the venue I won't actually see anyone in court, but I will seek a hearing and ask to appear by telephone. At that point there should be another item on the docket describing the events I've shared here. All the attorneys I've faced thus far in my budding pro-se career in law have demonstrated an extreme lack of integrity when backed into a corner. So many lawyers and people who can afford to hire them seem to live on that timeless threat, "I'll see you in court." Most of us who can't afford to engage a lawyer or don't have enough time or energy to become one end up forced to negotiate or backpedal or compromise our own integrity to deal with people who drop this threat on others with impunity.

I couldn't afford any type of legal assistance, and I wasted a lot of time trying to find it when I felt overwhelmed by this case in the early days. I did it myself, and so far that's been the best decision I've made. I don't think I'm the best lawyer on the planet or anywhere close to it. I don't think I'm a better lawyer than Jon Backman or most lawyers in practice in this country.

If I had to give my honest opinion of how good a lawyer I really am, I'd have to say I suck at it. But, then again, I don't want to be a lawyer anyway. I never did want to be one. I was forced to.

The real issue is not what kind of lawyer I am, but what kind of person I am. I'm honest, and painfully so. Some might say this high level of integrity means I could never be a proficient lawyer. Again, I don't mind, because I don't want to be an attorney anyway.

As my own legal representative, I have no attorney/client privilege. I have virtually no chance of being in front of the same judge again on another case. I won't have to face the opposing lawyer in another case, either. I don't have to make deals or play nice or rack up huge fees to fatten my paycheck. The pay is virtually non-existent and highly dependent on a favorable outcome(which has taken me longer than three years to get anywhere close to), but the work is meaningful and the victims are worth fighting for. More than anything the work I do requires a sincere and earnest sacrifice of my time for the benefit of the greater good. I have to be selfless by very nature just to keep doing it without reward or much in the way of sustainable funding. There's no guarantees, no quick fixes, and no great hope of full recovery at this rate. Yet, someone has to step up and try to do this work, anyway, and I don't see anyone else in line waiting to do it for me.

The initial shareholders of this company were swindled out of their investments. Many of them lost college funds, family trusts, and retirement savings as a result. The Fertittas promised to keep the company viable by taking their chief lien position with the help of a "private investment group." Instead, they killed the company, with help from their friends and associates. I took up the story a long time ago and tracked these transgressions from day one up to the present. I watched it all happen and warned others that it would happen before it did. I did an ominous amount of work for a microscopic amount of money. When you are in that position there is simply no time for greed or corruption to kick in if the effort is to remain true and sincere. You have to always focus on the long term, the goal to take back what was stolen from all those shareholders and their families.

I've done about as good as anyone could expect of an amateur lawyer. I've come to learn a great deal about the way the legal system works and doesn't work. I've seen how the system breaks down those who aren't willing to conform to its strict guidelines and rules. You have to be willing to get a little antiquated with your format and writing style if you want to be a halfway decent attorney, and I've spent more than a few all-nighters figuring that out the hard way. Today I'm better off because I kept trying, and I have a more compelling life story as a result of this struggle, but the journey has still been painful. The fight that rages on is still stressful and agonizing. The work never seems to get any easier.

Nobody in it for the wrong reasons could ever get this far, and one day Mr. Herzog and Mr. Backman might figure that out. They can underestimate me and dismiss my efforts as confused and misdirected all they want right now, but the truth will speak for itself in the long run. I didn't do this for fame and fortune. I don't have a greedy bone in my body.

I don't work for free to stroke my ego. I don't keep plugging away for hours on end with this work thinking it's a get rich quick scheme. I don't do this because it's my job. I do it because I am proud of it, I believe in it, and nobody else is in any position to do it the right way and with the right intentions in mind. My motives are pure and my conscience is clear.

I can't pretend to know what thoughts are going through the minds of Backman and Herzog at the moment or what their actual motivations and driving factors are. However, I do know that--no matter how much better than me they think they are at lawyering--their apparent character flaws will not be washed away by technicalities and nuances of process. I will expose these flaws here and everywhere else I think it's relevant to do so, and not just because I can or I think it makes me look better in comparison. I'll do it because it needs to be done, and it's simply the right thing to do.

Follow The Money: The Power & Politics Behind The UFC-Owning Fertitta Family

By: Rich Bergeron

Follow the money. It's a piece of advice many criminal and private investigators are taught as trainees. Once they graduate and get out into the field, they're reminded of the importance of that lesson nearly every day.

Money is the root of all evil to some people, but seemingly not enough when you look at the sad state of affairs in our materialistic world. Greed is a curse on society, and those overcome and driven by it will often take all they can any way they can get it. Corruption and conspiracy couldn't thrive without huge pools of unaccounted-for currency getting lost in the mix. It doesn't matter if it's your money or the next guy's, someone's always getting screwed because the worst scams are kept secret so the right people can profit while the little people always seem to lose the most. From Charles Ponzi to Bernie Madoff, the sophistication levels may have changed, but the core principles of the schemes never have and never will.

Consider the international financial picture. Forget Swiss banks. The Cayman Islands are small potatoes in the global banking power structure. The banking institutions where criminals exclusively keep and/or launder their money are only part of the problem. A worse disaster is wrapped up in the banks and businesses the "black-ops" and "spook" funds are kept for countries all over the world. Hiding money becomes a matter of national security and discretionary spending goes out the window in pursuit of global domination. HERE'S PROOF.

Each time a small scam artist pulls off a minor success, the chances of that criminal's operation growing larger increase exponentially. Scammers grow like weeds in the garden of capitalism. They sprout and grow incessantly, and there isn't enough Round-Up in the universe to exterminate them all. Too many of these small time scammers slip through the cracks. In time, these once tiny weeds become towering trees.

The size of the previous scam must always be much smaller than the latest one in the mind of an ego-driven mastermind of sweeping financial crime. Bent on the same pursuit of power and accumulation of excessive wealth, these type of criminals always crack in the long run, or they just simply piss too many people off. One way or another, justice finds them, or Karma miraculously kicks in. Yet, every now and then these type of masterminds conglomerate, and it takes longer for them to be revealed to the general public for what they really are. They make powerful friends, they contribute to the right political campaigns, they donate to charity, and they pay lots and lots of taxes to keep the government out of their affairs.

The Fertitta Family's money is not so hard to follow. Much of it is now re-invested in their own casino chain that they bought out of bankruptcy. Station Casinos is really only the tip of the iceberg, though. It's what's visible to the naked eye, but it's not the only major family asset.



Anyone remember that Casino that caught on fire a few years ago? The Monte Carlo was all over the news on January 25, 2008 as the facade began smoldering and black smoke poured into the Vegas atmosphere. Lots of YouTube Videos caught the action live.

At the time of the fire the Xyience bankruptcy had just been triggered by Fertitta Enterprises with their chief lien position over the company. I was talking with a Vegas-based investor on the phone that same day, not knowing what I know now about Victoria Partners and the Fertitta investment in MGM.

A Nevada Business Entity Search reveals seven active business entities operating in Nevada bearing the Fertitta name:

1. Fertitta Capital, LLC
2. Fertitta Capital II, LLC
3. Fertitta Colony Partners, LLC
4. Fertitta Enterprises, Inc.
5. Fertitta Gaming, LLC
6. Fertitta Partners, LLC
7. The Frank and Victoria Fertitta Foundation, LTD

There's also one revoked entity: Fertitta Management, LLC.

There's even a trademark out on the name Fertitta in Nevada.

There are additionally so many spin-offs and subsidiaries not under the Fertitta name that the full scale of Fertitta controlled and/or connected assets is virtually impossible to fully quantify. One company not often mentioned or thrown around in the mix is Victoria Partners Limited Partnership. William J. Bullard is the company's registered agent and the officers are listed as Fertitta Enterprises. This is the same family company the Fertittas used to bankrupt Xyience through Zyen, LLC. It's also the same company Frank Fertitta, Jr. served as Chairman of the Board for, even while he was "retired" from Station Casinos and making campaign contributions through Fertitta Enterprises.

MGM filed official SEC paperwork in February, 2010 that clearly lists Victoria Partners as a subsidiary of that massive gaming company. The listing reads: Victoria Partners, dba Monte Carlo Resort and Casino. So, at least on paper it looks like the Fertittas also have a controlling interest in the Monte Carlo. Ironically, just a few days after the ultimate decision by Fertitta Enterprises brass to burn Xyience investors in a figurative sense back in 2008, their other investment was burning for real.

Following the family money further, dating back as far as the late 90s, reveals a number of family trusts in different names, such as the ones listed HERE. The Centris Group paperwork also confirms Frank Junior was at the helm of Fertitta Enterprises for more than a decade with this passage: "Frank J. Fertitta, Jr. serves as chairman of the board of Fertitta Enterprises, Inc., an investment company."

For an investment company, Fertitta Enterprises is a very low profile operation. There's no company internet site, very little news about what the business actually does, and at least a few surreptitiously named and situated entities that fall under the company banner.

Of course the Fertitta ownership of Zuffa, LLC and Gordon Biersch Brewery are also significant. Zuffa, LLC has 13 separate registered Zuffa entities bearing the company label in Nevada alone. A broader national or international search would likely show many more companies owned and/or controlled by the Fertittas or their close associates. A recent re-broadcast of an old UFC card featured the Gordon Biersch Brewing Company all over the UFC mat. Looking up Gordon Biersch in a Nevada Business Entity search also produced interesting results, showing a default status for the company and William J. Bullard as the registered agent.

Further cross-referencing the other companies Bullard is a registered agent for gives you the following businesses:

1. Campione, LLC (Lorenzo Fertitta is a managing member)
2. Export Limited Partnership (Fertitta Enterprises listed as General Partner)
3. Gordon Biersch Brewing Company
4. KB Enterprises (Victoria K. Fertitta is President and Director)
5. Victoria Partners Limited Partnership
6. Zyen, LLC (parent company of Xyience, Inc. and subsidiary of Fertitta Enterprises)

So many companies linked to the Fertittas are mired in scandal, fraud, and/or lawsuits. Station Casinos alone is dealing with a labor union debacle in the midst of their bankruptcy and just settled a huge wage dispute with employees who filed suit against the company. Station Casinos executives basically put the whole casino chain around 6 billion dollars in debt to cause the bankruptcy, blaming the tough economy the whole way through. Now they just happen to be hiring again just a few months after they bought most of the company back in the bankruptcy courts for a song. Why didn't the Fertittas take any flack for tanking and then banking back into their own chain of casinos? Why do these billionaires keep getting bailed out of big trouble?

Even the Gordon Biersch takeover by the Fertittas became hostile when they ran into an executive with some ability to fight back against their fraudulent actions.

William J. Bullard was reported to be one of the central figures in attempts to defraud a former executive of McDonald's named Thomas B. Allin who had invested in the brewing company:

"On Dec. 13, 1997, Allin alleges, he was informed by Bullard that the company's board of directors had determined that the fair-market value of the company was about $12.3 million and that the value of Allin's stock was now $40 a share, or worth $2.2 million less than he paid for it 18 months earlier."

Bullard was also implicated in shady dealings at USA Capital, another company mired in a long bankruptcy process. One of our previous articles here outlines Bullard's alleged involvement in some of the massive fraud perpetrated at the company that at the time of the bankruptcy held over $950 million in "assets." Bullard had the opportunity to speak to an unruly crowd of USA Capital principals according to a piece in the Las Vegas Review Journal, which quoted him:

"The longer this thing goes on (in bankruptcy court), the more the attorneys are going to get paid," Bullard said.

As if all of the above isn't enough to question and investigate further how and why the Fertittas make their money, there's deeper questions that need to be asked. Where do they keep all that money, how do they spend it, and who have they made friends with that keeps them from getting caught in their past swindles?

Meadows Bank is a great place to start. The records for Fertitta Enterprises and the Fertitta family's political donations over the past decade are also worth a look. The Board of Directors at Meadows Bank includes Lorenzo Fertitta, Andre Agassi, Key Reid (Son of Harry Reid), and Las Vegas Media Magnate Brian Greenspun. Timothy Poster is also on the same board and happens to be the same guy who sold The Golden Nugget to another Fertitta (Tillman Fertitta)in 2005. The bank was too late on the scene to be damaged by the housing crisis and just in time to benefit from a new season of bailouts and big spending in Washington. The current Community Bank Legislation funnels billions to institutions including Meadows Bank via the SBA 504 Loan Pool also known as First Mortgage Loan Program or FMLP.

Here are a few interesting articles and links on the Meadows Bank players and their games:

Meadows Bank and the TARP Tax A question of Ethics for Senator Harry Reid

Book excerpts describing Harry Reid's days as Gaming Commissioner.

KEY REID GETS SWEETHEART JOB AFTER REPORT REVEALS RELATIVES OF POLITICIANS WORKING FOR LOBBYING FIRMS

THE REID CONNECTION

With political D-day today: November 2, 2010, it's also no surprise that so many UFC personalities are stumping for Harry Reid to stay in power. It's no surprise the above article also quotes Ross Miller, the guy who oversees all those business entity registrations for the Fertittas and their associates and friends:

"The UFC is one of the most powerful brands in the world for reaching 18- to 30-year-olds," Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller said. "Anytime a candidate gets their endorsement, it sends a powerful message to that demographic."


Follow the money, see who greases what wheels and how, and you begin to realize how corrupt these financial masterminds really are. Though they've left a trail of broken lives and burned investors in the wakes of all their financial scheming, the Fertittas still look slick and smart somehow. They get away with fraud after fraud, one bankruptcy after another only they benefit from, and they just keep patting the politicians who help them on the back and putting money in their campaign coffers.

No matter what your political allegiance may be or where your sympathies lie as far as the big ticket issues go, far too many elected officials abuse their power and influence to serve themselves, their associates, their friends, and/or the people who helped pay for them to get elected. Nobody's keeping an eye out for the average everyday person anymore struggling to pay rent and put food on the table for his family. Politicians are far too busy feeding billionaires more benefits they don't need for kickbacks and consideration or campaign contribution payback.

It really is time for Americans to get more educated and follow the money in their own states and locales to see where it leads. I doubt the Tea Party or any new party of any kind is really the answer. It doesn't really matter who leads us if not enough of us are intelligent and active enough in society to hold our leaders accountable for their actions. Rather than rock the vote, it's time to truly rock the system and radically alter the status quo as far as what we accept from our leaders and our society's systems as a people. Get educated on what the real facts are and don't listen to the repetitive 24-hour news cycle. Dig deeper. Explore and expose what you can in your own neck of the woods. Be conscious of the real everyday problems that surround you, not just the ones CNN or Fox News tells you about.

7 YEARS OF BAD LUCK: Station Casinos gets bogged down in Missouri

...after Carl Thomas dies in a mysterious single car accident, everything still goes bad for Frank Jr. and his heir Frank III.

Part Three in a Four-Part Fertitta Family History.

By: Rich Bergeron

Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III, with father Frank Jr.’s help and counsel, built Station Casinos up from a single off the strip hotspot in Las Vegas into an economic empire other casino barons envied. The empire went public and back to private in the blink of an eye and now stands to face bankruptcy if something drastic doesn’t happen soon.

To help myself understand the current scene a little better, I had to look back to when the oldest brother first put his name on the dotted line. It was Frank III who did the deed, literally. He did it to help the family business get into the hotbed state at the center of Frank Junior’s Mafia connections: Missouri. Home of the Kansas City Civellas for some of Frank’s best early days at the Fremont in Vegas.

The transition to power for the eldest son would not come easy. Frank Junior’s old demons plagued the company yet again during early attempts to expand into Missouri in 1992-1993. Again, another star witness’s testimony before a gaming commission had the potential to cause Frank Junior bigger problems than he could afford. This time it was old friend and business partner Carl Thomas himself who was asked to offer on-the-record insight into the elder Fertitta’s past transgressions. He would never get the chance.

Carl Thomas’ agreement to attend an inquiry with the Missouri Gaming Commission may have been the worst—and last—decision he ever made in his life. The mystery begins with Thomas travelling to Vegas from his home in Oregon to meet with Station executives and discuss his pending testimony. If Frank Junior himself attended the November, 1993 meeting it was the last time he saw his old friend Carl.

Thomas left Vegas alone to return to Oregon before heading to Missouri. Strangely enough, Thomas never made it to Missouri. Instead he died in a still unexplained single car accident.

According to Reporter C.D. Stelzer, The Harney, Oregon Sheriff's Department report shows Thomas died at approximately 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 4, 1993, after his car ran off a gravel road in the mountains of Oregon: "The report describes the crash as a "single-vehicle roll over." The crash took place on a straight stretch of Plush Road. The vehicle appeared to have veered off the 18-foot-wide road to the left, came back on the road, spun around twice, rolled over, and came to rest partially on the graded, right shoulder, facing the opposite direction."





Stelzer adds: "At the time of his death, Thomas was driving a 1992 Chevrolet Suburban. Because he wasn't wearing a seat belt Thomas was ejected from the vehicle and apparently crushed when it rolled over. Approximately a half-ounce of cocaine was found in Thomas' jacket pocket, according to the report."

Due to the master skimmer’s untimely death, the Missouri Gaming Commission couldn’t complete their inquiry into Frank Junior and they granted licenses to Station Casinos. Even without Carl Thomas telling his story, the Missouri licenses in St. Charles and Kansas City came only with the understanding that Frank Fertitta Jr. would have absolutely no role in the company's operations.

Whatever really happened to Thomas, it seemed as if his spirit haunted the Fertittas as long as they maintained a Missouri presence. According to Reporter Steve Wiegand, of The Sacramento Bee, in California, "Station was fined a total of $1.9 million between 1997 and 2000 for violations that included dumping fill materials in the Missouri River, allowing a 12-year-old girl to play slot machines and refusing to testify before a state regulatory agency looking into corruption charges." The company surrendered its Missouri licenses and sold its properties there in 2000 amidst an even more intriguing scandal that was apparently overlooked and under reported when it actually happened.

It seemed that even the dawning of a new millenium didn’t prevent the father’s sins and bad Karma from catching up with his sons.

St. Louis Attorney Michael Lazaroff helped the Fertittas break into the Missouri market, but his crude, sloppy methods were later exposed and resulted in more heat than the Fertittas could withstand. According to another C.d Stelzer report Lazaroff later pled guilty in federal court to defrauding his law firm by going off the reservation and taking $500,000 in bonuses from Station. He also pled guilty to defrauding clients, including Station, by padding his expenses.

Stelzer's reports also revealed the following:

Investigators found Lazaroff made 205 private phone calls to former Missouri Gaming Commission Chairman Robert Wolfson on behalf of Station Casinos, which was against state law.

Testifying before the commission in August of 2000, Lazaroff said he used his personal relationship with Wolfson to increase Station's chances of getting their Kansas City gaming licenses. Lazaroff also testified that Station officials knew exactly what he was doing.

"They from time to time would ask me to run things by Chairman Wolfson and see what he knew about it," Lazaroff testified.

Station officials vehemently denied they knew Lazaroff was doing anything improper. Still, they declined to testify at public hearings, despite subpoenas. A Station attorney objected to the hearing being public and voiced frustrations over not being able to cross-examine Lazaroff.

But, that’s only half the story. Ambitious, go-getting former Riverfront Times Reporter C.D. Stelzer levels even more outrageous accusations against his own colleagues in the media and Station executives surrounding Station’s Missouri days. Here are all of the “Media Mayhem” blog postings by C.D. Stelzer, which lay it all out in a number of in-depth stories.

David Helfrey (pictured), Station's outside counsel in Missouri, had an interesting background. Perfectly suited for the occasion, Helfrey was a federal prosecutor in Kansas City before deciding to turn to a career as a criminal defense attorney. Exactly what led him to make such a drastic career move is unknown, but my instincts tell me it might have had something to do with the government paychecks not being big enough for busting open the Mob's Vegas piggy bank. Helfrey must have been pretty hard up to do such a complete 180, easily assuming a role as the unofficial Fertitta Family consigliere in Missouri after years of prosecuting so many of Frank Junior’s old associates.

Helfrey definitely knew all about the Fertitta family's background. While working as a prosecutor, he would have had to review and be familiar with FBI transcripts that recorded Frank Junior in conversations related to casino skimming operations orchestrated by Carl Thomas. FBI tapes of Thomas himself mention Fertitta repeatedly as being a part of his crew, a crew that bilked the Argent casinos out of millions and funneled much of their Vegas proceeds to Mafia families in Kansas City, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Chicago. Helfrey worked on those cases and knew all the usual suspects well. Looking back, Helfrey’s interaction to help Frank Junior’s family business in Missouri is not only ironic but also extremely telling of something bigger going on behind the scenes.

Even before I found this information about Helfrey on Stelzer's blog I had long suspected that Frank Fertitta, Jr. and Carl Thomas both cooperated with the government to save their skins. If that is true, of course it would be essential to keep the whole matter an untold secret forever. The Mafia’s “Oath of Omerta” places made men in the organization in a position that forbids them from revealing any family secrets. The “rat” is the most unforgivable scum on the face of the earth in Mafia tradition, and all rats are punishable by death.

Yet, if it wasn’t for the rat’s existence, the worldwide power of La Cosa Nostra would be inconceivably and exponentially stronger than it is today. With the help of the Federal Witness Protection Program, even a "made" turncoat like Sammy "The Bull" Gravano bucked the rat rubout trend and moved on relatively unscathed after corroborating with the government against his high level Mafia associates. More than ever in this day and age the organized families have had to burrow their operations further and further underground, cut out the swaggering old-school bravado, and crack down on risky behavior that leads to government investigations. Those investigations typically start small, with a “little fish” being hooked as a primary low-level informant to take out all the bigger fish, exactly like a rat infected with Bubonic Plague biting everyone it can before it goes down itself.

As I know all too well now from my own family’s law enforcement history, the government has also experimented with recruiting big fish informants in the hope that they will be able to devour all the little fish criminals beneath them and around them. The theory must be: if the process works one way it could work the opposite way, too. This means that our own government sometimes works directly in coordination with known mass murderers, drug kingpins, master extortionists and leg breakers. A few casino skimmers cooperating with the government doesn’t seem too far fetched in that context. I'm not sure if any "big fish" operations were hugely successful, but 20/20 hindsight in some of the government's most high-profile interaction with "big fish" reveal that the technique was often a miserable failure (see Osama Bin Laden and James Whitey Bulger).

Next time you go fishing, I wouldn't recommend throwing a giant fish on a rope into the depths hoping it will eventually swallow a smaller one. Even if that angling technique were to miraculously work for you, it's certainly not practical. Eventually the fish either escapes or stops working for you. As an avid fisherman myself, I recommend sticking to the bait bucket full of shiners. You'll catch much more prey in the long run by putting small guys out there for the big guys to eat up with your hook.

Under another 20/20 hindsight analysis, perhaps, Frank Fertitta, Jr. decided to become a Whitey Bulger-esque “top-echelon informant” for the FBI. After all, it was just recently reported in the Las Vegas Review Journal that none other than Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal served as just such an informant for the FBI. Rosenthal’s secret only surfaced after his recent death of a heart attack.

If Frank Junior did inform on his associates secretly, David Helfrey’s coming to the aid of Station Casinos is likely not a mere coincidence.

Helfrey’s transition to a criminal defense lawyer from a federal prosecutor obviously rises to the level of curiosity, but it’s not unheard of by any means. I’m sure it’s not at all that uncommon for state and federal prosecutors to get burnt out and grow tired of government service. The private sector can be lucrative as an attorney, and some hardened prosecutors maybe even develop a soft spot eventually for the innocent guys they sometimes have to go after, the folks who get convicted before the right evidence is revealed to show they didn’t do it.

So, the fact that Helfrey changed careers is not the real surprise. What is really amazing is how Helfrey so zealously went from going after the old Vegas skimming operations to trying to cover them up as far as Frank Junior’s involvement. It doesn’t compute when you try to reconcile the fact that Helfrey heard all the evidence incriminating Fertitta for his role in the Argent skimming but then went to bat for the same guy to help get him another casino license he could potentially utilize to skim again for the same Kansas City organization. It all makes a heck of a lot more sense to surmise that Helfrey didn’t help Frank Fertitta, Jr. in Missouri for nothing. Maybe Helfrey instead acted out of a sense of loyalty to Fertitta for Frank’s help in bringing down his former KC Mob associates, which paved the way for Helfrey to start his own successful law practice. Helfrey had been the lead prosecutor in the mob trial in which Frank Junior was revealed to be an associate of organized crime, and the lead investigator in the case was then-FBI agent Gary Hart, who was also Helfrey's law partner in 2000 and still works at Helfrey’s firm today. Both just might have worked in concert under the auspices of their firm to return the favor Fertitta may have done for them in the 80s by turning State’s evidence on the sly.

Fertitta and Thomas were friendly enough to buy their own casino together, but did they sing together as well? It would certainly explain the balls to the wall approach Helfrey took in support of the Fertitta family. Though, corruption, greed, and a complete lack of a moral backbone could also explain Helfrey's huge change of heart. Nobody really knows the real answer at the moment, but it certainly begs further examination in light of Lefty's post-mortem revelation.

At one of the Missouri hearings regarding Station Casinos, as described by Stelzer, retired FBI agent and former Gaming Commissioner William Quinn testified. Quinn detailed three meetings he had with Helfrey when the former federal prosecutor was acting as Station's lawyer. The two already knew each other because they both worked together on the Strawman cases. The overall FBI operation the two men helped build resulted in the conviction of 19 Mafia members in the Midwest, including the Civellas brothers of Kansas City. The investigations and prosecutions shattered skimming operations at the Hacienda, Fremont, Stardust and Tropicana casinos in Vegas.

Quinn testified that, on one occasion, Helfrey asked him to meet with him and a Station's representative. Quinn also revealed that Helfrey came to Station’s rescue in Missouri only after the Lazaroff scandal broke. However, Quinn discovered that Helfrey was already representing Station in a legal capacity in other matters before Lazaroff went completely off the reservation in Missouri.

To make matters worse for Helfrey, if the attorney did obtain a meeting with Quinn including a Station’s representative, such a meeting would have been in violation of the Commission's "ex parte" rule. The “ex parte” rule was set up in 1994 to make sure that state gaming commissioners did not fall under the influence of the casinos that they were supposed to be regulating. Quinn said he was concerned about his former colleague's suggestion and he refused to meet with Helfrey and the Station's representative.

On behalf of Station Casinos, Helfrey went after Lazaroff with particular intensity, and the crooked, influence-peddling lawyer was an easily intimidated target. He reportedly attempted to take his own life after being caught up in the Station scandal in Missouri, and he told anyone who would listen that he feared the possibility of being rubbed out. Lazaroff retained state police protection during and after the Missouri Gaming Commission hearings that were held in Jefferson City in the summer of 2000 as a result. The embattled lawyer even claimed that Helfrey personally delivered a veiled death threat. Helfrey could be a very imposing person, and Lazaroff himself testified as much:

QUESTION:

“Okay. Did you have any further meetings with -- with Mr. Nielson while he was in the area?”

LAZAROFF’S ANSWER:

“Yeah. Monday, December the 6th we met at the law office of Arthur Margulis, and it was Mr. Margulis and myself, Rich Haskins, Scott Nielson and David Helfrey. And during that meeting Mr. Helfrey said words to the effect of, we don't think that the Commission has anything. We have your sworn testimony that you did not have ex parte conversations. And there will -- there will undoubtedly come a time where you'll be tempted to lie in order to save yourself because of all of these other problems that you have, but we know that you'll do the right thing. Okay? And that was repeated. And I remember walking out of that meeting and turning to Scott and said, I don't want to meet with that guy ever again. He scares the Hell out of me. And Scott said -- said to me, he scares the Hell out of me too.”

Lazaroff was eventually prosecuted for his multiple crimes, and he even pleaded guilty, but not before he rolled over on many of those he had bilked money from in the first place, including Station Casinos executives. In return, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Shaw gave him the country-club treatment. Lazaroff was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 90 days' house arrest in his Town & Country manse, 120 days' community service and restitution.

Station Casinos was finally forced to pull up stakes and leave Missouri like a dog with its tail between its legs in the closing days of 2000. A November 29, 2000 Las Vegas Review Journal article reported: “Station Casinos' Missouri license renewals were rendered unlikely by a disciplinary cloud hanging over the company. Six company officials refused to obey subpoenas to appear at an August meeting of the commission."

Carl Thomas died in early November of 1993, and exactly 7 years later Station Casinos found itself embroiled in hearings and investigations that would lead to their ouster from Missouri on bad terms. The state gaming commission eventually voted unanimously to strip Station and its top executives of their Missouri licenses. Station also agreed to pay a $1 million fine in November of 2000. A voluntarily surrender of its licenses precluded Station’s departure from the state for good late that year.

During his hiatus from holding the full official, financial and managerial reigns of Station Casinos Frank Fertitta Junior has maintained his land buying and trading ways, given a great deal of cash to charities and civic interests, and laid relatively low other than his various publicly reported Republican Campaign contributions.

12 years ago Mother Jones Magazine ranked Frank Junior in a tie for the 10th spot for America's political contributors who work in the shadows. He and the rest of the family and business interests have loyally given hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars to political figures from local judges and sheriffs in Vegas to presidential campaigns Like Rudy Giuliani’s recent failed bid for Mayor of America. It is an old Texas family tradition to pay it forward to politicians, grease the wheels, and prosper. I counted one year’s political contribution records that showed Fertitta family and business interests gave a combined $65,000 to Las Vegas Sherriff Doug Gillespie’s unopposed campaign for the seat.

Frank Junior himself gave Gillespie $5,000, each of his sons gave $10,000, Wife Victoria Fertitta gave $5,000, and Fertitta Enterprises gave yet another $5,000:






As for the guy Gillespie replaced, the retiring Sheriff Bill Young found fast work. A 2007 Las Vegas Review Journal report explained:

“He [Young] will oversee 630 workers and the security and surveillance operations for Station Casinos' 16 properties in Southern Nevada. Young would not reveal his new salary, but it was expected to top his annual salary of $134,263 he earned as sheriff.”

Station Casinos even put out campaign flyers for currently-sitting Clark County District Court Judge Timothy Williams’ successful campaign for the bench. The company publicly endorsed him for his judge’s seat. Williams was the first judge to oversee my existing case against Xyience. When I raised the issue that the judge’s own Web-site showed the Station Casinos endorsement letter, Williams did not recuse himself, although he did rule in my favor in the first hearing I was actually able to appear at.

I have even heard that Frank Junior still does butt into some Fertitta Enterprises company business, and some inside sources have told me Frank Junior put some of his very own money behind the $12 million Xyience bailout. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Frank Junior’s life that I’ve discovered in my investigations is that I’m told he goes to church services every single day. I’m sure the question’s been asked a billion times or more, but yet again it reveals itself here: can one be loyal to God and Mob at the same time?

Looking back it's easy to see how Frank Junior’s blacklisted enterprise could only expand itself for so long in the same place. It's easy to imagine the pressure he must have felt to get out of the town that wouldn’t let him take an inch of new gaming territory without a fight. Yet, he could not escape his reputation by crossing state lines. His organized crime history still impacted the Missouri situation heavily. The state only opened up for the Fertitta family because of the tragic and suspicious death of someone who could have stopped the whole operation cold just by telling the truth about what he knew about Frank Junior's past. Whatever happened on that stretch of farm road in Oregon in November of ‘93 is only known by one entity who’s willing to protest, and it seems that entity is the curse of Carl Thomas.

In our next installment we’ll explore the current Fertitta Empire, including the Zuffa purchase. We’ll focus on the folks I call “The Brothers Fertitta” and their billionaire boom days. We’ll also lay out exactly why Station Casinos now faces a flat out financial bust due to overbuying land and gambling on better days for the Vegas suburbs hit hardest by the housing crisis.