Las Vegas defense attorney under federal indictment in insurance fraud scheme

In the Clark County court system, Claus is a criminal defense attorney known by his middle name, licensed to practice in Nevada since 1998 and unfettered by any action against his law license as a result of his criminal case.

Federal prosecutors have said Claus, after responding to a report of a burglary, “conspired with a New Orleans homeowner and a Nevada art appraiser to submit a fraudulent insurance claim.” In return for using his power as an officer, prosecutors said, the homeowner agreed to share the insurance money with him and influence a “high-ranking” police official to get Claus a promotion.

“It is alleged that the claim reported that valuable paintings were stolen from the insured’s house, when in truth, the paintings were neither valuable nor stolen,” the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Louisiana said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Claus later made false statements to the FBI about his involvement.

Claus, who once served as a Clark County prosecutor, was indicted in June and has pleaded not guilty to counts that include conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to use a facility in interstate commerce in aid of bribery.

He and his attorney did not respond to requests for comment.

Still practicing

Daniel Hooge, bar counsel for the State Bar of Nevada, said the bar received a grievance in May about Claus, which he said he could not provide. The bar has taken no action against Claus, according to Hooge, who said he was not aware of Claus’ indictment.

“Because there was no conviction yet, we felt it was best left to the courts until it was resolved a little bit further because of how complex the case is,” he said.

Claus’ brother, Augustus Claus, is also a criminal defense attorney. Court records show he and his brother have worked together on recent cases.

In a phone interview, Augustus Claus confirmed his brother was working with him and said he does not believe the indictment has any impact on Conrad Claus being an effective attorney in Clark County.

The indictment is not in this jurisdiction and the allegations do not involve his brother’s conduct as an attorney, Augustus Claus said. He noted that his brother has no attorney disciplinary history in Nevada.

Asked if his brother has disclosed the indictment to clients, Augustus Claus would not answer. “I will not reveal any attorney-client information,” he said.

The New Orleans Police Department responded to a request for information about his employment status by directing a reporter to file a records request, which it did not immediately answer.

Claus was placed on desk duty and resigned in July 2023, according to New Orleans Times-Picayune reporting.

‘Things have been tough’

On Oct. 25, 2019, prosecutors said in an indictment, Claus responded to a report of a burglary at a home owned by a politically connected New Orleans restaurant and hotel owner named Fouad Zeton.

Zeton told Claus that the burglary happened two days before, according to the filing, and said he delayed reporting it while he looked for the missing items: Jewelry, cash and a leather jacket.

Claus took notes and asked Zeton if he had insurance, prosecutors said. Zeton did and Claus “explained that insurers can use the proven value of the items instead of the purchase price,” the indictment alleged.

Zeton hadn’t reported that any art was stolen, but prosecutors said Claus started talking about art anyway.

“Claus represented to Zeton that Claus was experienced in art dealings, was an experienced attorney and needed money due to a significant change in his financial circumstances,” according to the indictment.

Prosecutors said Claus told Zeton: “Things have been tough” and “there’s not enough for retirement.”

When Claus submitted his police report, he listed jewelry, cash and the leather jacket as the missing property, according to court records.

Report evolved, prosecutors say

Federal prosecutors said Claus and Zeton kept talking over the next few days, in calls and text messages.

According to court documents, Zeton sent photos of paintings to Claus and Claus texted: “If the stolen paintings are of similar quality to the one i photoed Michael believes he can fairly estimate the value the stolen paintings at over 100,000.”

Michael, the indictment said, was Michael Jon Schofield, a friend of Claus who lived in Nevada and was an art dealer. Schofield was previously sentenced to jail time in Orange County, California, the Los Angeles Times reported in 2008, after he used a Picasso sketch he didn’t own to obtain a loan, then stole it back from the money lender.

Schofield and Zeton have made guilty pleas in the case involving Claus, Schofield to misprision of a felony and Zeton to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. They await sentencing in June. Attorneys for Zeton and Schofield did not respond to requests for comment.

“Claus knew that the paintings had not been stolen from Zeton’s house,” prosecutors alleged, but he “involved unwitting members of the (New Orleans Police Department) in the scheme.”

Claus and Zeton met on or around Nov. 1, 2019, and Zeton then called police to report that he had discovered paintings were missing, court filings said.

An officer “who was unaware of the scheme” came to Zeton’s house and took a report, according to prosecutors. Claus used New Orleans’ computer system to look at the report and met with Zeton that evening, the indictment alleged.

There were more meetings between Claus and Zeton, and Schofield created an assessment with “overstated” values of the paintings, according to court records.

On or around Nov. 6, 2019, Zeton called Claus, then called 911 about a minute later, according to the indictment, and asked for an officer to come to his house so he could “supplement his burglary report with additional missing property.”

Claus was on duty and said on the police department’s radio that he’d respond to Zeton’s call, prosecutors said.

The “staged encounter” that followed was captured on body camera footage, according to court filings.

The men called each other “sir,” when Zeton was addressing Claus as “friend” and “brother” in private, prosecutors alleged, and “pretended to have difficulty recalling when Claus initially responded to Zeton’s residence.”

Claus passed Zeton a note that said, “NOT CONRAD” because Zeton had called Claus “Officer Conrad” after Claus said he was known as “Chris” in his police role, the indictment said.

“What did you discover?” prosecutors said Claus asked Zeton.

The discovery, according to the indictment, was the list from Schofield that Claus had texted to Zeton. Zeton handed Claus his phone and Claus read aloud from the message he had sent Zeton as if he was learning something new, prosecutors said.

Claus then wrote a police report that said Zeton had reported the theft of paintings worth $128,500 and two mirrors worth $5,000, the indictment said.

The police report said Zeton “provided detailed information,” not mentioning that the detailed information came from Claus, prosecutors alleged.

Zeton had an associate send those reports, and Schofield’s appraisal with “overstated” values, to a claims adjuster for his insurance company, according to the indictment.

When the insurance company questioned Zeton about how he found Schofield, prosecutors said he claimed he couldn’t remember.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.