RICO Suit Over Failed Las Vegas NBA Arena Tossed on Technicality

RICO Suit Over Failed Las Vegas NBA Arena Tossed on Technicality

Due to the failure to fulfill a deadline, a federal judge on Monday dismissed a $6.4 million RICO lawsuit against a renowned basketball arena and upscale resort in Las Vegas.

Jackie Robinson and his All Net Land Development LLC were the target of a racketeering complaint last December from Kent Limson and TACSIS APC, the California legal and accounting firm where he is a partner.  According to the lawsuit, the real estate developer gathered loans and investments to construct the NBA All Net Resort and Arena, a $5 billion project that he knew would never be built.

In 2018 and 2019, they gave All Net seven short-term loans, according to TACSIS and Limson.  By the time the fifth was issued, four had fallen behind, granting Limson a tenth of one percent ownership stake in the enterprise. Furthermore, according to their lawsuit, the surety bonds that guaranteed the loans were either false or counterfeit.

The RICO is not very stylish

However, US District Chief Judge Andrew Gordon determined that the plaintiffs waited longer than the four-year filing requirement under the RICO Act after discovering that the defendants allegedly failed to repay their debts.

The plaintiffs filed a similar action in November 2020 in LA Superior Court, which served as the basis for Judge Gordon's decision.

The plaintiffs contended, however, that it was not until the discovery phase of that trial that they learned of the bogus surety bonds.  They asserted that this would establish a new injury and a new legal deadline.  Another additional harm was the loss of Limson's ownership, which happened when the project was closed by the Clark County Commission in November 2023.

Given that the LA Superior Court complaint sought damages for the same loans and failed surety bonds, Judge Gordon was not persuaded.  He did, however, leave open the possibility that fresh information would cause him to reconsider.

“Although it seems unlikely that additional facts could cure the statute of limitations issue, I grant the plaintiffs leave to amend their complaint if they can plead additional facts to support a RICO claim within the limitation period,” he wrote.

The lawsuit will automatically close on September 2 if no new suit is filed by then.