{"id":179566,"date":"2021-07-13T13:41:44","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T20:41:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mohegan-sun-pulls-bank-draft-lawsuit-vs-ottawa-senators-melnyk\/"},"modified":"2021-07-13T16:52:57","modified_gmt":"2021-07-13T23:52:57","slug":"mohegan-sun-pulls-bank-draft-lawsuit-vs-ottawa-senators-melnyk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mohegan-sun-pulls-bank-draft-lawsuit-vs-ottawa-senators-melnyk\/","title":{"rendered":"Mohegan Sun Drops Lawsuit Against NHL’s Ottawa Senators Owner Eugene Melnyk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Connecticut\u2019s Mohegan Sun casino<\/a> has dropped a million-dollar lawsuit against Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk<\/a>. The lawsuit alleged the Canadian had stiffed the casino out of $900,000 in unpaid markers, The Day<\/em> reports.<\/p>\n

\"Eugene
A handwriting expert confirmed it was \u201chighly likely\u201d that the signatures on the drafts were those of billionaire Eugene Melnyk, pictured at a Senators game in 2017. (Image: NHL.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mohegan Sun sued Melnyk, a pharmaceutical billionaire, in the New London Superior Court in June 2019. The casino claimed he had racked up the debt during a St Patrick\u2019s Day weekend gambling spree in 2017.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear what caused Mohegan Sun to withdraw its lawsuit or whether a settlement has been reached. Melnyk vigorously contested the case.<\/p>\n

Neither party was prepared to comment Tuesday.<\/p>\n

‘Bad-Faith’ Bank Drafts<\/strong><\/h2>\n

According to the lawsuit, Melnyk gave the casino five bank drafts in exchange for credit, which his bank in Toronto later failed to honor. The first was issued on Friday, March 17, according to court documents. Four more were issued on Sunday, March 19, three within one hour of one another. The first four were for $200,000 each, the last for $100,000.<\/p>\n

Mohegan Sun sought the $900,000 it believed it was owed, plus $180,000 in damages, costs, and interest.<\/p>\n

\n

But Melnyk\u2019s lawyers argued the casino waited more than five months to present the drafts for payment, which caused them to become \u201cstale.\u201d They also said that the \u201cquestionable appearance\u201d of some of the signatures was part of the reason they were refused by the bank.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Melnyk\u2019s team also argued that Mohegan Sun had procured some of the drafts in bad faith, by refusing to let their client cash out his chips when he was winning. Instead, they claim, casino management encouraged him to continue gambling until he lost big.<\/p>\n

The casino\u2019s lawyers employed a handwriting expert to authenticate Melnyk\u2019s signatures by comparing them to several verified examples. The expert deemed it \u201chighly likely\u201d Melnyk had signed the drafts.<\/p>\n

Fraudulent Accounting <\/strong><\/h2>\n

In 2018, Canadian Business <\/em>estimated noted philanthropist Melnyk\u2019s net worth to be around $1.15 billion and ranked him Canada\u2019s 92nd-wealthiest individual. The Toronto-born tycoon founded the pharmaceuticals company Biovail Corp, which he exited in 2010. He now lives exclusively in the Bahamas.<\/p>\n

\n

In 2008, he was charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission with fraudulent accounting. The charge stemmed from allegedly deceiving Biovail investors by falsely inflating profits and hiding losses. He was banned from holding executive positions within public companies in Canada for five years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In 2003, he was seen as the Senators\u2019 savior when he rescued the team from bankruptcy. But he has become a less popular figure with fans in recent years for trading star players in the name of \u201crebuilding\u201d the team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Connecticut\u2019s Mohegan Sun casino has dropped a million-dollar lawsuit against Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk. The lawsuit alleged the Canadian had stiffed the casino out of $900,000 in unpaid markers, The Day reports. Mohegan Sun sued Melnyk, a pharmaceutical billionaire, in the New London Superior Court in June 2019. The casino claimed he had racked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":179567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMohegan Sun Pulls Bank Draft Lawsuit Vs. 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He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. 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