Henderson man kidnaps Las Vegas business owner after his wife steals $20M: police

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Henderson man is accused of kidnapping the owner of a construction company after an IRS investigation revealed his wife allegedly embezzled $20 million, according to an arrest report.

William Costa, 42, of Henderson, faces charges of kidnapping, coercion with the use of force, extortion, grand larceny of a motor vehicle, and dissuading someone to report a crime, records showed.

In the last months of 2024, the IRS opened a case into Larry Gilmore’s company, Gilmore Construction LLC, and determined that his accountant, Cynthia Marabella, had stolen $20 million from the business over seven years, documents said.

On Feb. 20, around 8:30 a.m., Gilmore was driving to his office when he saw a purple Lamborghini at the intersection of Dean Martin Drive and Starr Avenue. The IRS had previously told him that Marabella purchased a purple Lamborghini with stolen funds from his company, police said.

As he was looking at the Lamborghini, a black Chevy Suburban rear-ended Gilmore. He got out of his vehicle to inspect the damage and began talking to an unknown man. The two men took pictures of the damage and as Gilmore went to take a picture of the back license plate, he noticed there was not one, the report said.

He was then immediately shown pictures of his wife and children on the man’s phone as he told him, “You know what this is Larry,” and “Get in the car.” Two more men then got out of the Suburban and pushed him into the vehicle where they checked him for weapons, took his phone and Apple Watch, placed them in a signal-blocking bag, zip-tied his wrists and placed a bag over his head, according to police.

One of the men took his keys and drove Gilmore’s vehicle away, the report said.

The men then drove Gilmore about 10 minutes to an unknown location and put him in a large lifted black truck before driving him to another unknown location in the desert. There the men placed Gilmore on his knees with a gun to the back of his head. When they took the hood off, he saw Costa — Marabella’s husband who he had known for about 12 years, and two other unknown men, police said.

Costa told Gilmore to stand up and walk with him. The men walked into the desert and proceeded to have an hour-long conversation, during which Costa gave Gilmore two options. Either Gilmore helps drop the charges against Marabella by telling the IRS the money was a gift or an investment for a business or Costa would kill Gilmore’s entire family leaving him and his father alive so they can witness the murders, according to the arrest report.

Gilmore told Costa that he did not know about the case until the IRS contacted him. He pleaded with Costa who agreed to let Gilmore talk to his father and business partner about “fixing” the matter. Costa told Gilmore that if he could drop the charges he would be forever indebted to him and would attempt to pay some of the stolen money back, according to police.

The two men then walked back to the truck where Gilmore was told not to look at anyone and was not re-hooded. Gilmore recognized the area as south of Las Vegas near Sloan, the report said.

The men drove Gilmore to the M Resort and Casino where his car was abandoned. They gave him his phone and watch back and he got in his car and drove away.

Gilmore said he was scared for the safety of his family’s life and his life, so he was hesitant to report the kidnapping to police. He later decided to report the incident and showed minor injuries to his wrist and knees consistent with being zip-tied and shoved to the ground. Gilmore also had injuries to ribs that were consistent with being hit, police said.

On Feb. 21 around 3:50 a.m., police went to Costa’s home and called him from outside of the residence. Costa initially refused to come out of the home but later complied and was arrested.

He was scheduled to appear in court on March 12 and remained in custody Wednesday on $1.5 million bail.

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