ittemore-embezzled-millions-dollars-from-former-business-partners
Lawsuit claims Harvey Whittemore embezzled millions of dollars from
former business partners
Written by Martha Bellisle
4:41 PM, Jan. 27, 2012
The former business partners of Harvey Whittemore, a well-known Nevada
lobbyist, land-developer, businessman and lawyer, filed a civil
lawsuit Friday claiming he embezzled millions of dollars from the
Wingfield company they ran together and misappropriated corporate
funds and assets.
The suit, filed in Clark County District Court by lawyers for the
Wingfield Nevada Group Holding Company, claims that Whittemore=92s
Wingfield partners, Thomas Seeno and Albert Seeno Jr., confronted
Whittemore in 2010 about numerous discrepancies they found in the
Wingfield financial books in 2010, and Whittemore =93prepared himself a
written confession=94 admitting the alleged crimes.
The suit also names Annette Whittemore, his wife, and The Lakeshore
House Limited Partnership.
=93Acting as a manger of Wingfield, Whittemore has admitted and
confessed to engaging in over 20 different financial transactions
designed to deplete Wingfield of its assets for the sole purposes of
enhancing and promoting Whittemore=92s financial condition and to
further his standing in the political community of Nevada,=94 the suit
said.
=93These allegations are false,=94 the Whittemores said in an email. =93We
will take any and all steps necessary to preserve the reputation for
integrity that we have built in this state for over 40 years.=94
Kent Robison, one of the Wingfield lawyers, said in an email that the
allegations have been reported to the Reno Police Department.
Sgt. Dave Macaulay, head of the RPD Financial Crimes unit, said he
received a copy of the lawsuit, and said they will review its
allegations to determine whether they should investigate to see if
there was criminal activity involved.
The suit demands that Whittemore return the millions of dollars he
allegedly stole and seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well
as legal fees and court costs.
According to the lawsuit, Whittemore and Thomas Seeno executed an
operating agreement for Wingfield in 2005, and Whittemore, was made
manager.
=93From February of 2007 through 2009, Whittemore exercised complete
control over the financial books and records of Wingfield which
control he misused and abused,=94 the suit said.
They amended the agreement in 2009, adding Albert Seeno Jr. as a
manager, and adding a stipulation that all expenditures over $5,000
mus have unanimous consent of all three of the managers, the suit
said.
In May 2010, the Seeno=92s started noticing problems in the financial
records, =93specifically, there were concerns about amounts charged to
Wingfield accounts, material items not disclosed, debts that were
written off, undervalued of liabilities and a number of other
expenditures that had not received approval from nor been disclosed to
the Seenos,=94 the suit said.
In September 2010, the Seeno=92s confronted Whittemore, but =93they
quickly learned their suspicions, while well founded, had not even
scratched the surface of Whittemore=92s fraud, deception and
malfeasance,=94 the suit said.
Whittemore allegedly wrote a confession on Sept. 16, 2010, admitting a
list of inappropriate transactions, the suit said.
The alleged confession said he embezzled Wingfield money for personal
meals, entertainment and endeavors, and used the Wingfield aircraft
for =93improper and unauthorized personal, family and political use.=94
Whittemore allegedly admitted using Wingfield funds to maintain and
repair his homes in Reno, Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe. He also allegedly
diverted company funds to buy or lease vehicles for himself and his
family, the suit said.
The suit said he used the Wingfield-owned Red Hawk golf Course in
Sparks =93to cater a multitude of extravagant, non-company related
private parties, family dinners and other family events as well as
political and campaign fundraisers.=94
One such event, the suit said, was his daughter=92s wedding, that cost
Wingfield about $200,000.
The suit also claims that Whittemore used company funds for box seats
at the Reno Aces games, for private parties, political fundraisers and
to benefit his company Whittemore Peterson Institute.
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