Davidson denies he paid bribe

“All an elected official has sometimes is his word; and this time, I’ll have to back off my word,” Malone announced as he voted for a casino in the Spring Valley neighborhood.

Malone became the swing vote that passed the project even though Station Casinos, which had contributed $40,000 to his campaign for re-election, strongly opposed it.

For more than seven years, some members of the community have questioned what prompted Malone to change his mind at the last minute.

The federal government tried to provide an answer on Friday during the corruption trial of real estate consultant Donald Davidson.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Schiess suggested to jurors that billionaire developer Eskander Ghermezian promised Davidson and Malone $250,000 in exchange for Malone’s vote on the Spring Valley casino, which would be built on land owned by Ghermezian. Schiess suggested that Davidson helped arrange the payment to the then-Clark County commissioner.

By September 2001, Davidson was agitated that they had not received their payment, according to the government. Schiess played a recorded telephone conversation between Malone and Davidson that was intercepted by the government on Sept. 3, 2001.

“Do you remember when we were going through the casino thing and EG made us a very, very, very large financial commitment to you and I?” Davidson asked Malone. “Two fifty.”

On the stand, Davidson denied that Ghermezian promised $250,000 to get the casino approved. He said that September conversation with Malone was about a promise Ghermezian made to fund a property management and security business.

Ghermezian, a Canadian-based developer, has not been charged with a crime.

Davidson testified that in the spring of 2001, he and Malone proposed to Ghermezian that they begin their own company to oversee properties owned by Ghermezian’s company, Triple Five Nevada Development Corp.

Ghermezian supported the idea, Davidson said. Malone estimated the business would cost about $250,000 to launch and Ghermezian agreed to fund the start-up costs, Davidson said.

Davidson explained that by September 2001, he had attended luncheons and seminars to establish contacts with potential clients. At the same time, Malone, a former Las Vegas police officer, had applied for a security license.

Although Davidson said Ghermezian supported and agreed to fund the venture, he was not following through with his commitment.

“He had not written the check or opened the account to get the ball rolling,” Davidson said.

Schiess questioned why Davidson said the commitment was made during the “casino thing” when he and Malone didn’t propose their business plan until 2001.

Schiess pointed out the casino was initially approved in January 2000, but neighbors appealed the commission’s decision and the vote was overturned. Davidson acknowledged Friday that by November 2000, the casino project was dead.

Davidson was indicted in 2002 on charges that he paid then-Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny $200,000 to guide through zone changes that allowed a CVS Pharmacy to be built at the corner of Buffalo Drive and Desert Inn Road.

He was also charged with delivering to Kenny $3,000 a month for nearly three years after she supported the Spring Valley casino project. The government also alleges that Davidson attempted to bribe former Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald.

On Friday, Schiess established that Davidson stood to receive $50,000 in April 2002 if he successfully pushed through a zone change in the city of Las Vegas for a developer he only referred to as “Chinaman.”

Months earlier, Davidson called Malone to inquire whether McDonald might be a “player.”

When developer John Hui, who is of Chinese descent, filed for the zoning application, Davidson met McDonald and community liaison Douglas Rankin for lunch to discuss the project. But the councilman was nervous about the discussion and relayed his concerns to Malone, a longtime friend.

Malone called Davidson and asked what Davidson said to McDonald.

“I approached him the same way I approached you,” Davidson said, according to a May 10, 2002 conversation recorded by the government. “I have five dimes to spread around.”

Schiess asked Davidson meant when he said he approached McDonald the same way he approached Malone.

“The Spring Valley casino?” Schiess asked.

“Absolutely not,” Davidson said.

Davidson said he never paid off elected officials and did not offer McDonald a bribe. He said the five dimes — a term he learned from watching professional sports betting analysts on ESPN — meant $50,000. He intended to use it to pay other consultants or attorneys to help push through the zone change.

Davidson said he hoped McDonald would put him in touch with a land use consultant familiar with the city of Las Vegas.