Stock cheat guilty of incest
A convicted Las Vegas stock swindler who once bilked millions out of investors has pleaded guilty to a felony charge related to incest involving several of his eight children even while he was a key witness in a federal criminal case.
Between 2001 and 2007, according to court records, Peter Berney reportedly engaged several of his children in lewd acts.
At that time, he was working closely with FBI and IRS agents, as well as the U.S. attorney's office, to unravel the complicated securities scam.
The 64-year-old pleaded guilty Dec. 8 to attempted lewdness with a child under the age of 14. He is at the Clark County Detention Center with sentencing set for March 7 before District Judge David Barker.
As part of the plea deal with Clark County prosecutors, Berney could receive probation to a maximum of 12 years in prison in the incest case.
Berney was charged with 16 counts, including five counts of sexual assault, four counts of promotion of a sexual performance of a minor and two counts of lewdness with a child under 14. But six of those charges had to be dropped because the statute of limitations had expired, according to court records.
District Attorney David Roger said Berney's cooperation with federal authorities had "absolutely nothing" to do with the negotiations in the incest case. The federal case revolved around a complicated stock swindle that Berney orchestrated between 1990 and 1999. He bilked investors out of millions of dollars by creating shell corporations and selling securities while concealing the fact that he and his associates controlled all the stock shares.
Berney fled to Switzerland to escape prosecution in 1999 but was extradited to the United States. In December 2001 he cut a deal, pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States, and impeding and impairing the IRS. Berney was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, and he forfeited $21 million in property and cash.
As part of the deal, Berney assisted prosecutors and investigators through 2007, leading to the conviction of five co-conspirators.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office did not respond Thursday to requests for comment.
Court documents show that Las Vegas police learned of the incestuous relationship in September 2008, while Berney was in prison in the federal case. There was no indication in court documents that federal authorities were aware of the allegations while they were working with Berney.
The 64-year-old was originally accused of molesting two of his daughters and forcing one of his sons to have sex with a prostitute while the children were teenagers, according to a police report.
Before pleading guilty, Berney denied the accusations and suggested the children were upset because his federal prosecution ended the wealthy lifestyle they were accustomed to, according to court documents.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@review
journal.com or 702-380-1039.
