Former Nye County commissioner indicted in alleged COVID-19 fraud scheme

A former Nye County commissioner was indicted Wednesday on federal wire fraud and money laundering charges.

Leo Blundo is accused of seeking fraudulent COVID-19 relief funds for his restaurant in Pahrump, Carmelo’s Bistro.

Blundo received over $500,000 through federal initiatives including the Paycheck Protection Program and Restaurant Revitalization Fund, according to his indictment.

When submitting applications, he provided false documents and inflated his restaurant’s revenue, payroll and number of employees, prosecutors alleged.

“Fraud will not be tolerated in our community — regardless of the position or identity of those involved,” FBI Las Vegas Special Agent in Charge Christopher Delzotto said in the release. “Fraud erodes public trust and undermines the institutions our communities rely on every day.”

Blundo declined to comment when reached by phone Wednesday.

He was elected to the county commission in 2018 and served on the body for four years, but failed to win reelection. He is also chair of the Nye County Republican Party.

According to his federal indictment, Blundo bolstered some of his claims with false documents, including profit and loss statements and tax returns.

Then, instead of using the money for permitted purposes, he transferred over $200,000 to personal investment accounts and invested more than $25,000 in cryptocurrency, said prosecutors.

He faces five counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering. Prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of at least $545,000 if Blundo is convicted.

This is not the first time Blundo has been accused of wrongdoing related to COVID funds.

He agreed to pay a $4,500 fine in 2023 in a Nevada Commission on Ethics case, stipulating to a finding that he failed to sufficiently disclose his interest when voting with other commissioners to increase the amount of COVID relief money available to business owners on the county level.

After he voted to allow businesses to seek up to $50,000 in COVID funds, Carmelo’s Bistro applied for the money and received the full amount, according to ethics commission records.

Blundo disclosed that he was “utilizing the programs that we are setting policy for” during remarks at the meeting that led to the funding increase, but added that he did not “have a direct pecuniary interest in this policy,” records show.

“Mr. Blundo voted in favor of the amendments to Nye County’s CARES Act policy, which had the direct effect of increasing the amount of funds that his business received,” an ethics commission spokesperson said previously.

The ethics investigation found some county staff members quit because Blundo pressured them to expedite his applications for pandemic aid, the Pahrump Valley Times previously reported.

He has owned Carmelo’s Bistro since 2007, according to a Linkedin page.

“I’ve been a busboy, a server, I’ve worked on cars, I’ve picked up side jobs,” Blundo said in a 2019 interview when he was running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. “Eventually, I saved up and started my own business. This is the very definition of the American Dream. I know what it means to work hard every day to make ends meet.”

His arraignment is scheduled for Mar. 24.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com.