Las Vegas attorney charged with writing $400K in bad checks

A Las Vegas attorney who served as the chief executive officer of a troubled Nevada cannabis company has been charged with writing $400,000 in bad checks, according to court and police records.

A criminal complaint filed in Las Vegas Justice Court accused Brian Christopher Padgett, 47, of drawing and passing a check without sufficient funds with intent to defraud. He was booked Thursday at the Clark County Detention Center.

Clark County prosecutor Michael Giles said in a recent Justice Court hearing that Padgett was arrested by Las Vegas police “in his vehicle in a McDonald’s parking lot in the middle of the night.”

The criminal complaint states Padgett wrote checks, one for $350,000 and one for $50,000, that bounced.

Padgett’s attorney, Garrett Ogata, said in a court hearing Monday that Padgett is an attorney with no criminal history and long-standing ties to the community and should be granted bail.

“This actually is a crime I believe is involving many civil suits,” Ogata said. “This is a bad-check case. Not a violent crime. He’s not a threat to the community.”

He did not respond to a request for comment.

Padgett was also identified in court as the chief executive officer of CWNevada. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported in April 2019 that the Nevada Department of Taxation shut down two of CWNevada’s three dispensaries as the cannabis company was struggling to pay the government, workers and creditors. CWNevada filed for bankruptcy around the same time.

At the time, CWNevada was described as one of the largest cannabis companies in the state, yet it was subject to extensive civil litigation in Clark County District Court brought by investors, edibles companies and its business partner NuVeda.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.