A former police officer named as a potential target in an ongoing HOA corruption probe died Tuesday in an apparent suicide.
Retired Metro Police Lieutenant Chris Van Cleef died of what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound Tuesday morning. The circumstances surrounding his death are under investigation but it certainly looks like a suicide according to law enforcement sources.
Van Cleef spent years with Metro and retired as a Lieutenant in 2005 after getting nabbed in Utah for a DUI. His name and that of two other former Metro Officers, surfaced last week in the massive FBI-Metro investigation into alleged corruption within local homeowner association boards.
Agents served search warrants at several locations, seeking evidence to link local attorneys and contractors to HOA's all over the valley.
One warrant was served at Platinum Communities, which is owned by the ex-wife of a current Metro Officer.
Lawmen think the outside interests conspired to take over the homeowner boards so that expensive repairs and lucrative construction defect lawsuits could be channeled to particular co-conspirators.
Van Cleef was elected to the board of the Pebble Creek Homeowner Association. Pebble Creek is one of the developments which is at the heart of the investigation.
No charges have been filed, but pressure is growing and sources close to the probe say the potential targets appear to be turning on each other.
There's also an interesting twist elsewhere in the unfolding story -- as federal agents and local police pursue leads against Las Vegas law firms and contractors, some of those very same potential targets are teaching courses for the state.
Attorney Nancy Quon, who specializes in construction defects lawsuits and whose name has been linked to several of the HOA's now under suspicion, is signed up to teach classes to future homeowner association managers in a program authorized and promoted by the State of Nevada Real Estate Division.
The schedule shows Quan and her partners teaching courses in community management principles and in construction defects lawsuits. Also listed on the schedule is at least one contractor named in the search warrants served last week.
Whether those classes will continue as scheduled now that Quon and others have been served with warrants will be a decision for real estate officials to make.
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Retired Metro Police Lieutenant Chris Van Cleef died of what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound Tuesday morning.
Agents served search warrants at several locations, seeking evidence to link local attorneys and contractors to HOA's all over the valley.
Attorney Nancy Quon is signed up to teach classes to future homeowner association managers.
