N9NE Investor Death Inspected

Authorities in Aspen are investigating the apparent suicide death of a Las Vegas nightclub developer who opened venues in the Palms Casino before moving to Colorado to pursue other ventures just a few years ago.

Scott DeGraff reportedly ran into financial trouble in Aspen this year after an investor group filed suit claiming they’d loaned him $3 million to develop restaurants and clubs in the region but were never repaid.

DeGraff had joined forces with Michael Morton’s N9NE Group and George Maloof in 2001 to open several Sin City clubs including the Rain Nightclub, according to Vegas Inc. N9NE Group parted ways with Maloof in January following a court battle that settled with the company selling off its stake in the Vegas properties.

When word got out that DeGraff would receive $7.5 million from the Maloof settlement, the Colorado investor group moved to garnish his payments, Vegas Inc. reported.

DeGraff had filed for bankruptcy protection in Colorado to block the garnishment, the paper said, and his attorney recently challenged the investor group in an adversary complaint.