LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Las Vegas man is accused of stealing cash whereas pretending to work as an investigator. Metro police arrested Louis Colagiovanni on Thursday for a felony theft cost.
Colagiovanni accepted $69,320 between July 2024 and November 2024 in trade for personal investigator work, though he’s not a licensed investigator, in line with an arrest report.
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The alleged sufferer employed Colagiovanni to unravel a enterprise deal gone dangerous. The alleged sufferer anticipated Colagiovanni to conduct surveillance and discover out what occurred to $185,000 he had wired for an funding, the arrest warrant mentioned.
The alleged sufferer had been launched to Colagiovanni after reporting the funding fraud to legislation enforcement, police mentioned.
“Colagiovanni represented himself as a journalist investigator, and he was responsible for breaking the news story about politician Anthony Weiner,” in line with the arrest warrant.
Colagiovanni informed the sufferer an preliminary retainer value $6,000 and his charges had been $300 an hour, the warrant acknowledged.
“During the investigation it was determined Colagiovanni used most of the money to pay for his personal benefit,” in line with detectives.
Police detailed varied bills within the arrest warrant, equivalent to $2,500 Colagiovanni paid to a Las Vegas lawyer. Detectives reached out to the lawyer, who acknowledged she was employed by Colagiovanni for a civil case and had by no means heard of the person who employed Colagiovanni for investigative work.
>>Extra from the 8 Information Now Investigators
The 8 Information Now Investigators have realized Colagiovanni had employed the lawyer to defend him in a lawsuit filed by former North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee.
Lee alleged that in his marketing campaign for Congress in June 2024, a web site emerged falsely accusing him of “certain sexually deviant behavior,” in line with the grievance.
Colagiovanni provided a ‘deep pretend’ audio file for $20,000 to the marketing campaign of opponent David Flippo, which the marketing campaign revealed, Lee alleged.
Court docket data present the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice on April 3.
Police mentioned Colagiovanni falsified paperwork claiming he accomplished investigative work, pretended he broke right into a home throughout his ‘investigation,’ and falsely claimed he employed specialists. Colagiovanni appeared to make use of the web site ‘Been Verified.’
When the alleged sufferer grew to become involved about Colagiovanni’s fixed requests for extra funds, they found that a few of Colagiovanni’s claims had been pretend and confronted him. Ge admitted the knowledge offered to him was false and mentioned, “Are you investigating me? I could go to jail. This stuff could get me in deep [expletive],” in line with the arrest report.
Colagiovanni was launched from jail on his personal recognizance, that means he didn’t should pay bail, courtroom data present. His subsequent courtroom look is scheduled for Nov. 6.
Lawyer Damian Sheets, who’s representing Colagiovanni, despatched the 8 Information Now Investigators the next assertion:
“Mr. Colagiovanni maintains his constitutionally protected right to the presumption of innocence. He is deeply concerned about the allegations, and about the lengths some went through to ensure he was charged with these offenses, especially given what he believes may be nefarious conduct on the part of the accuser in this matter. He asks the public to keep an open mind, and looks forward to his day in Court, where he intends to vigorously defend his integrity while showing the public the truth about his accuser.”
To achieve investigative reporter Vanessa Murphy, electronic mail [email protected].
