Bellagio LLC is suing Sir Allen Stanford for repayment of a gambling debt of more than a quarter of a million dollars. The lawsuit was filed in Nevada State Court in September.
Sir Robert Allen Stanford is a prominent financier and sponsor of professional sports. He is chairman of privately held Stanford Financial Group. He was the first American to be knighted by Antigua and Barbuda. In 2009, he became involved in several fraud investigations and in February of 2009 he was charged with multiple violations of US securities law involving $8 billion in certificates of deposits. He used the proceeds of $1.6 billion from the CDs to live a luxurious lifestyle and fund a fleet of private jets and homes in Texas, Miami, and the Caribbean. Authorities said that they have been investigating Stanford’s financial dealings for over 15 years but in the event of the Madoff Ponzi Scheme the investigation accelerated.
Mr. Stanford has dual citizenship having residency in the United States and in Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean. He was born in 1950 and took over the family business. He started and funded the 20/20 Cricket Tournament in the West Indies in 2006. The second tournament in 2008 was televised all over the word.
Right before he was arrested he amassed the debt from the Bellagio plus 18% interest and court fees. In February Stanford’s assets were seized and he says he can’t pay the debt because he is broke. He denies any wrongdoing in the situation. Fourteen gambling markers signed by Stanford were deposited by Bellagio between January 15th and January 20th and returned unpaid. Gambling Markers are check like documents that allow regular customers to open temporary lines of credit with a casino. The Bellagio is owned by MGM Mirage.
Early in September, Stanford had surgery to repair an aneurysm in his leg and was being watched for a few days, but he is now back in jail awaiting progress on his trial.
Mr. Stanford insists that it was never his intention to amass such a large debt to the Bellagio and never pay it. He says it was impossible to pay the markers because the government froze his assets and if that wouldn’t have happened the debt would have been paid. The MGM Mirage is not buying into Stanford’s excuses. They claim he knew he couldn’t back the markers that he was getting from the casino.
The Bellagio is owned by MGM Mirage and is currently located on the Strip in Las Vegas, also known as Sin City. The Bellagio boasts an 8 acre lake that is situated between the building and the strip. On this lake are the Bellagio fountains that dance to synchronized music. It was stimulated by none other than the Bellagio Lake Como resort located in Italy and was built in 1993 for $1.6 billion by Steve Wynn. It opened in 1998 and has been an integral attraction on the Las Vegas Strip since then. In 2001, it was purchased by MGM Mirage and employees about 10,000 individuals.
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