HOA Nut House

Van Cleef named in warrant tied to inquiry

By LAWRENCE MOWER | REVIEW-JOURNAL

A retired Las Vegas police lieutenant whose name surfaced in connection with an ongoing FBI and police probe into possible corruption involving homeowners associations was found dead of an apparent suicide in Henderson on Tuesday.

Christopher Van Cleef was one of three former and one current Metropolitan Police Department officers named in a warrant in the investigation last week.

Being named in the warrant does not necessarily mean the person is the subject of an investigation.

Henderson police spokesman Todd Rasmussen said officers were called out at 8:48 a.m. to a desert area near the railroad tracks at Green Valley Parkway between Warm Springs Road and Windmill Parkway.

Van Cleef owns a home about a quarter of a mile away from the area.

"They discovered a man that had committed suicide," Rasmussen said.

He had suffered from a gunshot wound, Rasmussen said.

The Clark County coroner's office had not identified the body on Tuesday.

Henderson police are investigating the death and are working with the coroner's office to determine whether the death was officially a suicide, according to Rasmussen.

Van Cleef was a member of the homeowners association at Pebble Creek Village, one of seven condominium complexes around the valley named in a federal warrant obtained by the Review-Journal.

He retired in January 2005 after 25 years with the Metropolitan Police Department. His retirement came after he was arrested on a charge of drunken driving by the Utah Highway Patrol the previous fall.

Las Vegas police were called out to Van Cleef's Henderson home about 9 a.m. Tuesday.

"I think it was more of a courtesy to be with the family," Las Vegas police officer Bill Cassell said. "If there were family members (there), they were used to seeing a Metro uniform, and one showed up."

Allegations of voter fraud have surfaced in a civil lawsuit at Pebble Creek Village, near Eastern Avenue and the Las Vegas Beltway.

Van Cleef and two others named in the warrant were elected to the board in May.

Former board president Jeremy Doering said he and other owners at the complex have successfully recalled the three from their board positions, but they've refused to step down.

At least one owner at the complex has complained to the Nevada Real Estate Division's ombudsman's office of duplicate ballots being submitted during the May election.

Doering and other residents of the complex have said that although the development does not have any serious defects, Van Cleef and the other two board members had talked of filing a construction defect lawsuit.

Van Cleef, Doering said, had talked briefly at the meetings about how it "would be a good idea if we had Nancy Quon look into any defects." Quon, a prominent construction defect lawyer, had her office raided by the FBI and Las Vegas police on Friday, according to media reports.

Nine other locations around the valley last week also were raided, including the headquarters of Silver Lining Construction, owned by Leon Benzer.

The FBI was seeking "any and all documentation, correspondence and notes" relating to 43 people, including Quon, according to the warrant served at one of the nine locations and obtained by the Review-Journal.

According to a law enforcement source, the FBI is investigating whether individuals were placed on homeowners association boards and, in turn, directed business stemming from construction defect lawsuits to select companies.

The FBI did not return calls seeking comment about Van Cleef's death on Tuesday.

Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.

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