Friday, Nov. 9, 2001 | 9:53 a.m.
Franklyn Perry, a defendant in high-profile fraud and child pornography cases, and six of his investors have filed a class-action lawsuit that accuses Metro Police of illegally seizing more than $22 million.
The lawsuit, filed in Clark County District Court Thursday morning, states that when Metro arrested Perry on July 17 for allegedly committing securities fraud police made an "unlawful seizure and detention of moneys belonging to the plaintiffs."
Police allege that Perry, as part of a Ponzi scheme, told investors he was loaning money to high-roller gamblers who had hit their credit limits at area casinos. Police said he would pay some investors a few hundred dollars a week, calling it returns on the money they gave him. The weekly payoffs often enticed others into the scheme, which required a minimum buy-in of $10,000, police said.
Police have seized more than $22 million from Perry and amassed a list of more than 1,000 alleged victims.
The Clark County district attorney's office and Metro are drawing up the paperwork needed to transfer the seized assets to the courts. The money would then be returned to the alleged victims. The paperwork is expected to be done sometime in December.
Perry also faces charges of sexual assault with a minor, lewdness with a child, use of a minor in the production of pornography and possession of child pornography in an unrelated case.
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