Las Vegas developer indicted on charges of tax fraud
Prosecutors on Wednesday announced an indictment against a Las Vegas developer and former head of an accounting and tax firm on charges that he helped prepare false tax returns.
Lance Bradford, 52, of the tax and audit firm L.L. Bradford, faces 28 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent tax returns from 2012 to 2014.
Prosecutors said the false tax returns claimed phony deductions for millions of dollars in cost of goods sold, consulting fees, and omitted gross receipts. The returns were filed on behalf of seven individual taxpayers and their associated corporate and partnership entities, according to a Department of Justice news release.
Bradford is also the founder of Stable Development, which announced in November plans for a 300,000-square-foot project near the Raiders’ future practice site in Henderson.
A 2018 Securities and Exchange Commission filing alleged that Bradford’s accounting firm made a gross mistake in the 2013 tax filing regarding a Las Vegas-based real estate investor’s funds.
The filing claimed Bradford’s firm changed data without authorization.
Bradford’s accounting firm had its license revoked by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the audit industry’s watchdog, in 2015 for multiple violations.
Bradford is scheduled to appear before a U.S. magistrate judge in court next week. He faces up to three years in prison and a $100,000 fine per count.
Attempts to reach Bradford by phone Wednesday were unsuccessful.
In early 2016, Bradford’s office in Las Vegas was searched by FBI agents in connection with a Bureau of Reclamation official who had been targeted in a corruption investigation.
Nearly two years later, Dustin Lewis, 43, of Henderson, who was employed by Bradford’s firm, was charged with conspiracy in connection with a bribery scheme involving a government contract. Lewis is awaiting trial in that case.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
