Mortgage – Ex-311 Boyz gang member charged in mortgage rip-off
Felon Steven Gazlay, who started his prison profession virtually twenty years in the past with a infamous gang of principally white upper-class teenagers, has been charged with swindling a lender out of greater than $700,000 to fund a high-stakes playing spree.
Gazlay, 36, first made headlines in Las Vegas in 2003 when members of the 311 Boyz maimed a teen with a rock. He was in the end convicted of beating one other younger man with a crowbar. He’s been out and in of jail ever since, in accordance with regulation enforcement and Nevada Division of Corrections data.
He and his girlfriend, 36-year-old Dana Bevers of Las Vegas, are actually every charged in warrants with a 2020 mortgage rip-off that police say defrauded a tough cash lender out of greater than $707,000. Attorneys for each couldn’t be reached for touch upon Friday.
“Steven Gazlay studied mortgage lending to determine how to develop fraudulent transactions, to take false possession and obtain a sham escrow loan on (a Las Vegas residence),” police mentioned.
‘Prolific criminal history’
A 32-page arrest warrant filed in opposition to Gazlay and Bevers by the Las Vegas police monetary crimes division acknowledged that Gazlay has a “prolific criminal history.” He was launched from Excessive Desert State Jail in 2019 and has eight felony convictions.
The warrant additionally states that he has arrests, however no convictions, on suspicion of homicide, mayhem, tried homicide, theft, permitting baby abuse, home battery and malicious destruction of property.
In accordance with the warrant, Gazlay met an actual property developer within the spring of 2020 at a Las Vegas actual property rehab mission. That developer then agreed to let Gazlay lease a condominium from him on the upscale The Martin high-rise tower in Las Vegas for $2,300 a month. Across the identical time, the developer bought a Las Vegas property for $1.eight million to a Houston, Texas-based esports firm.
Gazlay, police mentioned, befriended the developer and was in a position to take a photograph of a $1.three million escrow verify ensuing from the sale of the house. Gazlay additionally obtained a photograph of the person from his passport, police mentioned.
Quickly, police mentioned, it grew to become clear to the developer that Gazlay was not going to pay the lease for the condominium.
The developer mentioned he then met Gazlay for a lunch assembly the place a person recognized as “TJ” brandished a firearm in his presence. The developer was advised to cease asking concerning the lease, police mentioned, and the developer “felt like his life was being threatened … and that he no longer was going to ask for the $13,800 in back rent.”
Police mentioned the developer’s fears for his security have been justified. The warrant contends that “TJ” was recognized to Gazlay from his time in jail, when Gazlay “became an Aryan Warrior white supremacist prison gang member.”
In accordance with the warrant, which blacks out TJ’s full title, he’s in custody on the Clark County Detention Middle on suspicion of homicide. He is also recognized within the doc by the primary title “Thomas.”
In September, the developer reported to police that he was getting threats from Gazlay and left city.
Pretend paperwork, faux possession
Across the identical time, police mentioned, Gazlay carried out a complete scheme to take possession of each the $1.eight million property and the Houston firm that purchased it. This, in flip, would permit Gazlay to acquire a fraudulent residence fairness loan in opposition to the property.
Gazlay, police mentioned, employed an area lawyer to assist create working agreements within the title of the Houston firm, then obtained the loan in opposition to the house from a tough cash lender out of Yuma, Arizona.
“The fraudulently obtained loan funded for $707,375.75 on August 27th, 2020 was transferred to an account of Steven Gazlay’s in the name of one of his LLCs, Profyt Addyct,” the warrant states. “Steven Gazlay forged and uttered multiple documents to obtain a fraudulent cash out equity loan.”
The warrant alleges that Gazlay had a member of the family notarize and backdate paperwork to falsely authenticate them. The warrant additionally alleges that Gazlay used an lawyer, whose title is partially blacked out, to backdate what proved to be fraudulent firm possession paperwork. Gazlay additionally had a buddy within the title business perform analysis for him.
Round this time, the actual proprietor of the Las Vegas property that the loan was obtained in opposition to obtained an eviction discover from Gazlay. The proprietor then realized of the fraudulent loan in opposition to the property and advised police {that a} couple confirmed up on the property in August claiming to be the house owners. That couple wouldn’t go away till the actual proprietor threatened to name police.
“This couple is believed to be Steven Gazlay and Dana Bevers,” police wrote within the warrant.
Bank accounts and a playing spree
Police mentioned Gazlay added his girlfriend, Bevers, as a certified signer to his enterprise accounts across the time the fraudulent loan was secured. Police mentioned Gazlay and Bevers have been subsequently recorded on video making enterprise transactions on the identical day that the fraudulent loan cash was deposited into the enterprise accounts. Different transactions involving the pair, and recorded on bank surveillance, are additionally detailed within the warrant.
The warrant signifies that Gazlay used a bit of the cash to fund a playing spree.
“Steven Gazlay loses more money than he earns from gambling and ended the year at a 19k fiscal loss,” police mentioned. “Steven Gazlay has been banned from Station Casinos due to his excessive losses and fraudulent attempts at obtaining lines of credit with varying false information.”
On line casino data confirmed that Gazlay gambled $91,175 from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 alone.
“These monies used were obtained through the fraudulent loan as seen through his gambling patterns,” police mentioned.
Police have recovered greater than $500,000 of the cash from the loan. Gazlay and Bevers have been booked on the Clark County Detention Middle on Jan. 7 on prices of theft, conspiracy to commit theft and mortgage lending fraud. Gazlay additionally faces prices of coercion, forgery and acquiring one other particular person’s id.
Contact Glenn Puit by e-mail at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Comply with @GlennatRJ on Twitter.
