LV developer in litigation with ex-exec

American Premiere Homes & Development of Las Vegas sued its former president, Robert Lively Jr., alleging he misappropriated funds from the company.

American Premiere also claims Lively solicited and accepted kickbacks from at least one of its subcontractors.

The Clark County District Court suit said Lively, who the firm says left the company in late September, allegedly began to mismanage American Premiere's construction projects around December 1997 by allegedly causing project costs to run over budget and fall behind schedule, overcharging its customers, creating fraudulent invoices and misrepresenting the company's debts.

The suit said Lively used the allegedly embezzled funds to pay mortgages and lines of credit secured on his personal real estate properties.

Other defendants include Greystone Financial Group, holder of a deed of trust on Lively property in Anthem Country Club; FAS Mortgage Corp., holder of a deed of trust on another property; and Beneficial Management Corp. of America.

"To date, we estimate that more than $620,000 are unaccounted for," said John Hanover, the plaintiff's attorney.

The suit said Lively allegedly misused his corporate expense account to pay for vacations, personal items and his children's education, and had allegedly illegally removed company property from American Premiere for his own use.

The suit said Lively was able to conceal the allegedly embezzled funds that had been paid to American Premiere by its clients including T&R Painting and Drywall -- which is owned by American Premiere's majority investors Ronen Rahaman, its vice president and Hagai Rapaport, its treasurer -- by allegedly maintaining an unauthorized bank account in the name of American Premiere to hold the funds.

T&R Painting hired American Premiere in 1997 to build its offices and warehouses in North Las Vegas, said Hanover.

American Premiere alleged Lively overbuilt T&R's project and then allegedly overcharged T&R by more than $500,000 above the the true cost of the project, and allegedly used those funds meant for American Premiere's projects to finance the development of personal projects.

Robert Massi, Lively's attorney, declined comment. Lively could not be reached for comment.

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