August 3, 2017
Las Vegas, NV – Today, Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt announced that Robert Milk, 38, Kenneth Johnson, 66, Curtis Acree, 53, Roosevelt Warren, 42, Kristi Milk, 36, and Joel Hendrix, 45, were indicted by the Clark County Grand Jury on 32 felony counts for operating a false tow scam out of Las Vegas along with other fraudulent acts. The charges include: offering false document for filing or record, obtaining money or property under false pretenses, burglary, using personal identifying information of another, and mortgage lending fraud. While Robert Milk, Kenneth Johnson, Curtis Acree, Roosevelt Warren and Joel Hendrix were indicted on multiple felony counts, Kristi Milk is charged with only one count of mortgage lending fraud. The fraudulent acts were committed between November 2013 and February 2017.
According to the indictment, the five male defendants filed false documents with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) that claimed lienholders had been notified of vehicle tows or storage liens, and then subsequently sold the vehicles at auction. The indictment alleges that the lienholders never received any notice of the tow or subsequent auction by the tow company, thereby depriving them of thousands of dollars per vehicle. In some cases, the affidavits filed by the defendants claim that a nonexistent entity conducted the auction. The Milks are also alleged to have submitted false statements to the Federal Housing Authority, and Warren is alleged to have used multiple Social Security numbers not belonging to him to conduct high-dollar financial transactions.
Robert Milk, Curtis Acree, Kenneth Johnson and Roosevelt Warren, have previously been charged in a similar scam in October, 2016. All four men entered a not guilty plea in that case, which is set for trial in November. The new charges have been set for arraignment on Wednesday, August 9th.
“My office will continue to protect Nevada’s communities by actively disrupting and dismantling complex fraud schemes,” said Laxalt. “Multi-defendant prosecutions like this one have a lasting impact on public safety and serve to deter similar criminal conduct that is motivated by greed.”
An investigation by the Office of the Nevada Attorney General uncovered lien sale packets supposedly sent to lienholders. By filing these packets with the DMV, the defendants were able to obtain title fraudulently, keeping or selling the vehicles at auction for a profit. Following further investigation, authorities discovered additional fraudulent acts committed by the defendants, as alleged in the indictment.
This case was investigated and is being prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Criminal Prosecution Unit. The Office of the Nevada Attorney General thanks the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles for their valuable assistance in this investigation, as well as the Social Security Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
An indictment is merely a charging document; every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.
To view the criminal indictment against Robert Milk, Curtis Acree, Warren Rosevelt, Kenneth Johnson and Joel Hendrix, click here. To file a complaint about someone suspected of committing a fraud, click here.
1) Robert Milk 2) Curtis Acree 3) Warren Roosevelt 4) Kenneth Johnson 5) Joel Hendrix
(Photos courtesy of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department) ###