Court rejects appeal of man who forged Adelson’s signature

By Cy Ryan

Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2016 | 12:40 a.m.

A federal appeals court has rejected the petition of a wire fraud offender who used phony documents including claims he had financial ties to Las Vegas Sands chief Sheldon Adelson.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday said the 19-year sentence handed down to Scott Summerhays in 2015 was reasonable because of the sophistication of his scheme and the amount of loss by the victims.

From 2008 to 2010, Summerhays told investors he planned to purchase the Genoa Lakes Golf Course near Carson City. He said he needed money for a short-term loan. As part of his scheme he told investors he had a partnership with Adelson, and he forged the gaming mogul's signature on a document. Adelson said he had never heard of Summerhays.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Summerhays persuaded 11 people to loan him $3.6 million, and the victims lost all their money.

Summerhays chose to represent himself in the federal district court. On appeal he claimed his standby counsel was ineffective, which the court declined to consider.

Summerhays, who formerly lived at Lake Tahoe, was also ordered to pay $1.4 million in restitution.

He pleaded guilty to 14 counts of wire fraud, seven counts of money laundering, two counts of identity theft and one count of aggravated identity theft.