Owner of Tahoe reality show motel arrested

The owner of a South Lake Tahoe motel that was the locale for a cable reality show about snowboarders was arrested in Las Vegas on Thursday.

Eneliko Smith, 37, owner of The Block motel in South Lake Tahoe was arrested on allegations of tax evasion, according to South Lake Tahoe police.

Smith, along with snowboarder Marc Frank Montoya, founded hotels that cater solely to snowboarders in South Lake Tahoe and Big Bear Lake.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officers arrested Smith after a criminal complaint was filed Aug. 29 by the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office.

The complaint charges Smith with one felony count of misappropriating public funds, seven misdemeanor counts of failure to furnish tax-return data and seven misdemeanor counts of failure to pay transient occupancy taxes, according to a statement from South Lake Tahoe police. Transient occupancy tax is levied on hotels and motels.

The Las Vegas resident was in the custody of Nevada law pending extradition to California to face the charges filed in El Dorado County, the statement indicates.

The criminal filing was the result of investigative work by a task force assembled by the South Lake Tahoe Police Department, including several city and county departments.