The federal government is asking Clark County for more than $75 million in alleged unpaid rent at a major property on federal land managed by the county and developed by prominent Las Vegas gambler Billy Walters.

Clark County, acting as the facilitator for the Bureau of Land Management, entered into a 99-year profit-sharing lease with a development company owned by Walters, recently convicted of insider trading, for the course in 2000, but the arrangement never made any money. The federal agency contends the county should have been collecting roughly $1.3 million in rent annually from Walters and, thus, deserves that money. The county disagrees.

The Aug. 18 letter from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Commercial Litigation Branch states that the debt consists of underpaid rent proceeds totaling $12.4 million to date in addition to interest and the present value of projected underpayments through the term of the lease. The latter is estimated to be $62.8 million.

The letter also states that payment is due on or before Sept. 1 to avoid prejudgment interest.

“We dispute our liability for back rent but welcome discussing it further with the DOJ,” county spokesman Erik Pappa said in a statement.

Walters constructed the 18-hole course across from McCarran International Airport in 2000, but the site failed to generate profit. The original lease between the course and the county was criticized as being too favorable to Walters, and allowed him wide latitude in what could be declared as an expense.

In 2011, the County Commission voted 5-2 to amend the lease and allow Walters to redevelop the course into a commercial real estate property. At that point, he started paying $100,000 a year to the BLM as part of the amended lease.

County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak said the Department of Justice’s “beef” is with the county and not Walters. But he reiterated that the county disagrees with the department’s interpretation of the situation.

The site was recently brought back into the public eye as a possible location for the proposed domed stadium for the future Las Vegas Raiders, though the team decided to go with a different site. It’s now being considered as a possible venue for stadium-related parking.

Walters was convicted of insider trading charges in April, and was sentenced to five years in prison over an alleged $43 million insider trading scheme that included stock tips to golfer Phil Mickelson and Carl Icahn. An attorney for Walters did not respond to emailed request for comment late Tuesday.

None of the current commissioners were on the board when the lease was created in 2000.

DOJ Kresse Ltr to Clark County Re Nevada Links Lease - 081817 by Riley Snyder on Scribd