An alleged porn star and his parents have been named in a lawsuit regarding two failed projects to build medical centers in Pharr and Rio Grande City.

The Rio Grande City Medical Center, LTD. and the Pharr Medical Center, LTD. filed a racketeering lawsuit in McAllen’s federal court on Wednesday.

According to the lawsuit, a group of local physicians turned to developers to help build hospitals in Pharr and Rio Grande City.

Groundbreaking ceremonies were held for both facilities back in the summer of 2007 but by November it was clear the projects were never going to happen. 

The lawsuit accuses California-based consultants Ronald and Virginia Calisher as well as their son Kevin Calisher of receiving “substantial up-front payments” but never delivering the goods.

According to the Calisher & Associates website, the company is, “One of the nation’s leading firms for healthcare development and consulting.”

But the McAllen lawsuit alleges that the Calishers had also been involved in failed projects in New Mexico and Tennessee.

“The Calishers never intended to perform on the contracts which were a scam to defraud money from plaintiffs as part of a nationwide scheme that included projects in Tennessee and New Mexico,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit alleges that the Calishers were engaged in a “pattern of racketeering activity” that included allegations of a conspiracy to commit acts of bank fraud and mail fraud.

Ronald and Virginia Calisher turned the Valley projects over to their son Kevin Calisher, who according to the lawsuit, did not have to the education or experience to oversee them.

According to the lawsuit, “…his only professional experience was performing in pornographic films and posing naked on web sites of questionable morality.”

Action 4 News called the Calishers at the their company in Huntington Beach, California but they did not return calls for comment.

Federal court records show that they have not been served in the lawsuit but are scheduled to appear before U.S. District Court Judge Randy Crane in McAllen on October 6th.

Mission-based attorney Martin Frankel represents the partnerships for the Pharr and Rio Grande City Medical Centers but declined to comment citing pending litigation.

Federal court records show that Ronald Calisher and his company were also named in another lawsuit in McAllen back in July 2000.

The case was settled with Calisher agreeing to pay $20,000 dollars to Medical Center Endoscopy, LLP.