LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Developers for the failed All Net Resort & Arena project are facing a new lawsuit.
According to court documents filed last week, former NBA and UNLV basketball player Jackie Robinson is one of several defendants named in the suit.
The plaintiffs, identified as TACSIS, a California corporation, and Kent Limson, claim that Robinson and his co-defendants ran a Ponzi scheme for years in order to collect hundreds of millions of dollars from potential investors.
The lawsuit states that between August 2014 and December 2019, Robinson and other co-defendants received no less than $800 million in "short-term" loans, which were never repaid as promised and that those loans were obtained due to "material misrepresentations to encourage and solicit the loans."
CHANNEL 13 ARCHIVES: NBA, UNLV basketball player Jackie Robinson walks Channel 13 through arena plans in August 2014
According to Limson, when funds were initially loaned to All Net, the money was then transferred to an account for a company run by Robinson. Court documents state that company was not involved in the All Net project.
Between 2014 and 2019, Limson stated things appeared legitimate because he and fellow investors asked how their funds were being spent, which construction companies were working on the project, and they visited the site on Las Vegas Boulevard several times.
Eventually, the lawsuit claims Robinson and the other co-defendants breached loan and surety agreements, failing to pay them, which led to a lawsuit in California.
"It was discovered that the loans were never used for the All Net Project and were instead used as payouts to Robinson, [Timothy] Arellano, and all of Robinson's various 'consultants' on the project, including a $60,000 check earmarked as a Christmas bonus to Robinson himself, a bonus to his spouse, and bonuses to each of Robinson's 'consultants'," the lawsuit reads in part.
It also claims that no 1099 tax payment forms were ever issued to the "consultants" over the past decade and that surety bonds guaranteed by AGS Surety and Arellano were fraudulent and/or forged.
According to court documents, "the only right that Robinson held in relation to the property was the right to do some initial grading per the Clark County Commission. Anything beyond that would require Robinson to seek further approval from the Commission to move forward with the All Net Project, which it could not, due to the continued lack of building funds."
The lawsuit states that Limson and TACSIS are seeking more than $6.4 million in damages.
In May 2020, a California district court dismissed the lawsuit "for failure to establish diversity jurisdiction." Federal records also indicate that no further hearings for the Nevada case have been set, as of Wednesday.
CHANNEL 13 ARCHIVES: Clark County Commissioners approve plans for All Net Arena on Aug. 6, 2014
The All Net Resort & Arena, which Robinson first announced in December 2013, was going to include a basketball arena, two hotel towers, a movie theatre, and retail space. It was going to be located on the former Wet 'n Wild property on the north end of the Strip.
However, after nearly a decade of delays, in November 2023, the Clark County commissioners denied an extension of time to All Net developers.
Chris Kaempfer, who represented the project at that meeting, said they had finally gotten their ducks in a row.
"The bottom line is that permits, FAA approvals, all other required approvals are in place and active, construction financing is in place, and construction has commenced and will be pursued until completion," he told commissioners.
However, Sami Real, the Director, Department of Comprehensive Planning for Clark County, disagreed.
"There was a statement that all permits had been obtained and I just want to be clear. The only permit that's been obtained is the early grading permit and that is not for the full scope of grading," Real said at the time. "The full grading permit and any architectural plans have not been submitted to the building department."
WATCH: Clark County Commissioners deny All Net Resort & Arena extension request
Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson then asked a financial investigator if he had documentation to demonstrate money for the project did exist. He voiced his frustration during the meeting.
"So what we have done here is we've extended the time so that these proofs could be made available to us, not among people we don't know about. So that leaves us where we were a year ago," he said last November. "What we really had hoped for is that with the additional time is that there would be money in accounts that are available for the applicant to begin to pay things but we are still hearing that the money is out there but it's under the control of others."
With the All Net Resort & Arena project falling by the wayside, LVXP is now working to bring their own NBA arena and resort to the site.
Earlier this month, I told you that Clark County commissioners have approved permits for the project, which will include three high-rise towers, over 2,000 hotel rooms, a 6,000-seat theater, and an 18,000-seat arena.
WATCH: Vision for potential sports arena on north Strip takes shape in new renderings
However, the top of county commission documents list the owner of the project as All Net Land Development, LLC, which makes some residents who live nearby nervous.
"We dealt with All Net year after year after year and yet, nothing. We'd like to know the timeline, financing, what we can expect. We'd love for this project to come through. But again, I see All Net on the top of this. What's their involvement? Is this just another development company saying 'Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We can do this" or is this really going to happen," one woman told commissioners. "We've been looking at an empty hole for way too long. Way too long. We want something to go in there and we want some action."
During the meeting, developers said they are continuing to hear from people who live in the area and want to get feedback on how to improve plans for the project, which include water and traffic studies.
A future hearing date for the project hasn't been set by county officials, as of Wednesday.
WATCH: Developers reveal more about proposed plans, residents voice concerns with new LVXP project
