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Outstanding bills

Former partners sue Neonopolis developer

BY ARNOLD M. KNIGHTLY

The businessman tasked with putting tenants in downtown's languishing Neonopolis mall is dogged by numerous litigants and unpaid judgments. He owes more than $700,000 to multiple litigants who successfully sued him for not paying his bills. The suits, going back to 1998, were all tied to various development projects.

Rohit Joshi, of Joshi & Associates, has represented Neonopolis' new owners, FAEC Holdings Wirrulla, before the city council and in the search for new tenants.

In the two local cases, judges ruled against Joshi after he repeatedly failed to show up in court to answer civil suits which alleged he had not paid business associates for services rendered.

Jeferson Applegate | Business Press
The relaunch of struggling downtown mall Neonopolis has been entrusted to developer Rohit Joshi, a man dogged by clients and lawyers who say he stiffed them, as well as several unpaid legal judgments.

Steve Andrascik | Business Press
John Mullen Jr., one of several litigants pursuing Rohit Joshi, sued him seeking payment for services performed, including the acquisition of this 100-plus-acre parcel in Henderson.

In the third case, a Florida court ruled that a businessman had been "fraudulently induced" to invest in a project. He won a summary judgment to recover the money he had advanced to Joshi's company, as well as damages.

Last month, Judge Jennifer Togliatti issued a contempt sanction in a case brought by local real estate consultant John Mullen Jr. Joshi had failed to appear at four previously scheduled debtor's examinations, only sending an attorney to the October hearing.

Togliatti ordered Joshi to appear for the examination by Dec. 1 to reveal his assets and to come up with a plan to pay Mullen the $258,000 judgment. If the developer does not comply this time, he will be jailed.

When reached for comment, Joshi stated that two of the debts were incurred while he was ill. He could do the debtor's exam "today for that matter, that's not the issue," he added. He then referred further inquiries to his attorney. Although Joshi called back three times to say his lawyer would be in touch, the Business Press had not been contacted by press time.

"Some time ago, there was a couple of gentleman I got involved with, in which I was in the hospital, and they took some legal action, bottom line being for the compensation," Joshi said. "Unfortunately, I couldn't do certain responses. Therefore these guys are just looking for their compensation."

According to court documents filed in the Mullen case, Joshi states that he underwent back surgery on Nov. 12, 2000, with physical therapy lasting until June the following year. There is no other court record of additional illness.

The other summary judgment against Joshi in Clark County was issued on July 7. HMC Architects of Nevada won damages of approximately $300,000.

The third ruling stemmed from a 2001 case in the circuit court of Seminole County, Florida. It involved former Major League Baseball player Darren Daulton, who was awarded $161,772.

Jonn Keany, a criminologist who specializes in asset searches related to white collar crime, has been working for Daulton to locate Joshi's assets for two and a half years. He was recently hired to help Mullen's recovery efforts as well. Keany said he had never heard any claims of a Joshi hospital stay or illness.

EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT

John Mullen Jr. met Joshi in April 1998, when he was a vice president of General Motors Acceptance Mortgage Corp. Mullen left his job two months later to work for Joshi as his "consultant for the investigation, acquisition, development and marketing," of real estate investments on a one-year agreement. Mullen was to be paid a salary of $150,000 plus expenses and a percentage of any development profits.

According to court documents filed May 15, 2001, Mullen worked on Joshi's behalf on at least eight projects and claimed that Joshi had defaulted on $200,000 worth of salary payments and an additional $3,600 in travel expenses.

On June 5, 2001, when Joshi claims to have been near the end of his physical therapy, Mullen received a default judgment of $203,600 after neither Joshi nor his counsel appeared in court.

After losing an appeal the following September, Joshi was ordered to appear at Mullen's lawyer's office for a debtor's examination on Nov. 2. Two days before the hearing, Joshi's attorney of four months, Susan Frankewich, filed a motion to withdraw. It stated that Joshi had "failed to fulfill obligations in payment to counsel." Frankewich told the Business Press she has yet to be paid anything more than her original retainer.

HMC ARCHITECTS

In October 2003, HMC Architects of Nevada was hired by Joshi to "provide architectural services" on a proposal to convert Cashman Center into a Touro University Medical School campus. Although a campus eventually opened in Henderson, HMC filed suit in July 2004 claiming that Joshi failed to pay $240,000 of a $347,000 contract.

In August, Joshi's new attorney filed a response of boilerplate denials and standard defenses, such as alleging that third parties not officially working for Joshi had caused the damages. The following month the attorney, who had also taken over the Mullen litigation, withdrew from both case, citing failure by Joshi to "fulfill payment obligations."

As the case moved forward and was sent to arbitration, Joshi claimed that payment was contingent on the project's success, an argument rejected by an arbitrator.

By May 2006, HMC was seeking recovery of $361,000 for services and expenses. asking for a summary judgment. On July 7, the summary judgment was awarded to HMC after Joshi failed to respond. The case has lain dormant but attorneys for HMC said they plan to move forward with an attempt to recover the judgment amount.

DARREN DAULTON

While Joshi has been working on various deals in Clark County, he also stopped in the Sunshine State to try to put together a project in Winter Springs, Fla. In 1999, Joshi induced former Philadelphia Phillies catcher Darren Daulton to invest $50,000 and become the face of a sports complex. The project would be tied to a larger mixed-use development called TownCenter.

Daulton, who was looking at development opportunities in Las Vegas at the time, said Joshi called him to spark his interest in the Florida project. Daulton is a three-time All-Star who retired with the World Series champion Florida Marlins in 1997.

When the project never materialized, Daulton filed suit in Seminole County. He too was awarded summary judgment in March 2001 for $161,772. Daulton has yet to collect any money.

"The guy has told more lies to me and my family, and the business associates that were out here," Daulton said. "Everybody that has met him he's lied to. He owes me a lot of money and I want it, and I want the city to help enforce this because the guy's going to do it somebody else out there (Las Vegas) if they don't put their foot down."

aknightly@lvbusinesspress.com | 702-871-6780 x316

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