New details emerged Monday surrounding the federal fraud indictment of former Las Vegas City Councilwoman Michele Fiore, who pleaded not guilty to two additional charges of allegedly steering donations intended for a fallen officer’s memorial for personal gain.
Court documents released Monday indicate that Las Vegas Councilwoman (and current mayoral candidate) Victoria Seaman was among those allegedly defrauded by Fiore, and that the unindicted co-conspirator whose identity was left out of the original indictment was Fiore’s daughter. Seaman declined to comment.
Fiore declined to be interviewed following the arraignment at a federal courthouse in Las Vegas, but her lawyer, Michael Sanft, told The Nevada Independent that the defense has all the evidence to prove that the charges against Fiore are motivated by “political persecution” (an argument federal prosecutors are trying to prohibit). He suggested that the defense, which has 14 witnesses against the prosecution’s 61 witnesses, has struggled to track down witnesses due to FBI protection, and he also downplayed the two additional charges filed against Fiore, both of which were related to $5,000 donations.
The new details provide additional political context of Fiore’s alleged effort to defraud donors, with Seaman joining Gov. Joe Lombardo as prominent Nevada officials who were alleged victims in the scheme. Fiore’s trial is scheduled to begin later this month, and a pretrial conference is scheduled for next week. The Republican former state lawmaker was suspended with pay from her role as a Nye County justice of the peace after the charges were filed.
The charges — six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud — center on the construction of a statue honoring Alyn Beck, a Las Vegas police officer killed in the line of duty in 2014. Prosecutors alleged that Fiore solicited donations to fund the statute through her PAC and a nonprofit she ran, but the money raised instead went to pay for her political fundraising bills, rent and daughter’s wedding.
Read More: What to know about Michele Fiore’s criminal indictment as trial nears
Federal prosecutors released a list of questions Monday for potential jury members, including one that named Lombardo and Seaman as two alleged victims in the case. Prosecutors also released a list of exhibits, which includes a description of a payment made from Seaman’s PAC to Fiore’s PAC in December 2019, and one week later, a payment from a nonprofit run by Fiore to Seaman.
Fiore and Seaman, once close friends, have a checkered past. In 2022, Seaman sued Fiore, alleging that she violently attacked Seaman and created a hostile and abusive workspace while both were city council members. The still-active suit centered on a January 2021 incident where Fiore allegedly grabbed Seaman’s hand and “pulling, jerking, twisting, and breaking … Seaman’s finger in a violent manner.” Seaman later filed a cease-and-desist order against Fiore, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
At the time of the suit, a spokesperson for Fiore described it as an effort to stop her from winning her 2022 election for state treasurer, which she eventually lost.
Another new detail that emerged Monday is that Sheena Siegel, Fiore’s daughter, has been identified as a co-conspirator — referred to in the indictment as “Person A” — who prosecutors say profited from the fraudulent activity and helped conceal Fiore’s fraud.
The list of exhibits mentions Siegel several times, including a payment she received from Fiore’s PAC on June 16, 2019, the same day that Lombardo (then the Clark County sheriff) sent $5,000 to Fiore’s PAC. Prosecutors said Siegel was directed by Fiore to use the funds to purchase money orders for rent at her personal residence.
Siegel also helped Fiore run a nonprofit called A Bright Present Foundation, which allegedly solicited donations in 2019 to fund the construction of a statue honoring Beck, even though a private company had already agreed to cover the costs. State business records show that the nonprofit was voluntarily dissolved in 2021.
The Nevada Independent previously reported that Fiore’s PAC gave six figures to her daughter’s event planning company.
