Developer Settles SEC Claims of Fraud

A Palm Springs real estate developer will pay $40,000 to settle federal allegations that he defrauded investors who had purchased $12.75 million worth of municipal bonds to finance a Nevada casino.

Mark A. Temple, co-owner of Mojave Valley Resort Inc., was the developer of a casino and housing project on land near Laughlin, Nev., owned by the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe. The Securities and Exchange Commission says Temple sold the municipal bonds to help finance the project and told investors the bonds were secured by a deed of trust on Mojave’s lease of the tribe’s property.

In fact, the tribe and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs never approved any deed securing the bonds, the SEC said Thursday. When Temple defaulted on his lease by failing to finish the casino in 2002, he disclosed to investors that the bonds weren’t secured, the SEC said.

Temple neither admitted nor denied the allegations as part of the settlement, the SEC said.

Karl Urland, an attorney representing Temple and Mojave Valley Resort, said his client was still in business.

“The company is making every effort to pay the investors,” Urland said. “Deposits are being made to the trustee on behalf of the investors on a regular basis.”