Adding to the injunction filed in Clark County, Nev., last week, another lawsuit has been filed in Los Angeles County on behalf of three local individuals who placed deposits towards condominiums at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
The complaint alleges that Deutsche Bank, Nevada Property 1 LLC, Nevada Voteco LLC, 3700 Associates LLC and KO Realty Group "knowingly committed fraud and conversion against the plaintiffs by failing to disclose the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas' intention to convert the condo-hotel project into a hotel-only development."
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas has previously settled the claims of approximately 1,500 other purchasers of the condominiums by issuing only partial refunds of their earnest money deposits, despite their intention to convert the project to hotel-only use, according to the law firm Lurie & Park, which brought the complaint.
The complaint charges the defendants with fraud, active concealment and suppression of material facts, and conversion. The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees and costs.
"Deutsche Bank and their partners in this venture have been caught red-handed, capitalizing on the recession to steal nearly $100 million in escrow deposits from individuals who bought into the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas," said Dan Park, lead counsel for the plaintiffs.
"It's no secret that they have no intention of building the condominiums, as promised, and are playing with people's livelihoods instead of returning money that rightfully belongs to them."
As of the filing of this lawsuit —a mere five months before the Cosmopolitan's announced grand opening —the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas has not recorded a subdivision map with Clark County showing any condominium units, the law firm said.
"Clark County's senior planner, who has overseen every major hotel and condominium project on the Las Vegas Strip for the last 19 years, believes that the Cosmopolitan will be hotel-only, in accordance with the subdivision map approved in 2008 and all available news reports," said Park.
"We have enough ammunition to show these defendants have engaged in an elaborate cover-up intended to defraud these people out of their deposits," said Park.
The complaint for damages was filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, where the plaintiffs reside.
Phone messages left for Deutsche Bank were not returned by press time.
