A disgraced Connecticut newspaper owner associated with casino mogul Sheldon Adelson’s recent purchase of the Review-Journal has emerged as a figure in a long-running lawsuit that involves allegations that Adelson tolerated organized crime ties at his properties in Macau.
In a deposition Monday, Adelson’s son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, refused to answer any questions about contact with Michael Schroeder, owner of Central Connecticut Communications. Dumont, vice president of finance and strategy for Las Vegas Sands Corp., was being questioned by a lawyer representing Steven Jacobs, a former Sands executive in Macau who alleges he was wrongfully terminated for trying to distance Sands from illegal activities in the Chinese gaming city.
Dumont’s lawyer on Monday blocked questions regarding any discussion his client may have had about the case with Schroeder, who in December was briefly named “manager” of the Review-Journal.
Schroeder’s role in the Adelson family’s RJ purchase is significant because one of his Connecticut newspapers published a long article that was critical of Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez, who is presiding over the Jacobs case. The article bore a false name associated with Schroeder.
A group of Queensridge homeowners with some well-known names has filed a lawsuit over plans to build thousands of condominiums and apartments where the neighboring Badlands Golf Club now sits.
The group, which includes businessman Jack Binion and gaming lawyer Frank Schreck, filed the complaint Tuesday in District Court in Clark County against Las Vegas and several companies associated with the golf course.
According to the lawsuit, the defendants “have openly sought to circumvent the requirements of state law as well as the city code” to deprive interested parties of notice and an opportunity to be heard.
“This conduct is just part of an overarching campaign to interfere with the legal rights of the homeowners — adjoining property owners in the master-planned development commonly known as Queensridge,” the document alleges.
Las Vegas City Attorney Brad Jerbic could not be reached for comment Thursday.
EHB Cos., which developed high-end retail center Tivoli Village, confirmed in September that it had purchased the Badlands Golf Course in the west Las Vegas Valley. The course is managed by Par 4 Golf Management Inc., the company that closed the controversial sale of Silverstone Golf Club around that time.
Caesars Entertainment Operating Co.’s plan to offer chartered flights to its casinos has flown off course and into a multimillion-dollar legal storm.
Charter operator Aerodynamics Inc. of Michigan filed a $12 million lawsuit in July accusing Caesars, a former executive of a Caesars subsidiary and a charter competitor of stealing trade secrets and breaching a three-year contract worth $85 million.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer Dorsey of Nevada granted Aerodynamics and its parent company, ADI Holdings of Georgia, a partial preliminary injunction in the case, saying the business “is likely to succeed on the merits of its breach of contract and misappropriation claims” and that it could suffer “irreparable harm” without the injunction.
The injunction was “a significant and extraordinary remedy” chosen before any discovery in the case, said ADI’s attorney, Dana Hobart, of the Los Angeles law firm of Hobart Linzer. That means the order was based solely on the merits of ADI’s claims.
The order prohibits the acquisition, use or disclosure of any of ADI’s proprietary information. It applies to former Caesars executive Steven Markhoff; his current business, International Management Solutions; charter-service providers Via Air and Via Airlines; and Via Air Chairman Amos Vizer.
2016 Best Lawyers in America. The list of Best Lawyers in America for 2016 includes the following from Southern Nevada, listed in alphabetical order by firm:
Pisanelli Bice
• Todd Bice, appellate practice, commercial litigation, litigation – First Amendment, litigation – land use and zoning, litigation – mergers and acquisitions
• James Pisanelli, bet-the-company litigation, commercial litigation, construction law, litigation – construction and litigation – real estate
• Debra Spinelli, commercial litigation
• Jordan Smith, appellate practice
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CARSON CITY — Another chapter in the three-year legal battle between Wynn Resorts and Japanese businessman Kazuo Okada was played out before the Nevada Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Todd L. Bice, attorney for Wynn, asked the court to throw out a district court ruling that it must turn over 78 records in the pre-trial maneuvering of both sides.
Bice said there was “no factual basis” on the ruling by District Judge Elizabeth Goff Gonzalez that these records must be given to lawyers for Okada. Bice argued that there is no relevance of these records to the existing case in which Okada maintains he was forced out of the company and that his 20 percent stock was purchased at a discount rate.
Bice argued that Okada and his lawyers have a “vivid imagination” in asking for these records that are not tied to the pending suit.
But Stephen Peek, attorney for Okada, told the court the records may show that Okada was forced out of the company to protect Steve Wynn. He argued that Gonzalez has handled the suit for three years and was familiar with which records should be submitted to Okada’s lawyers.
“She (Judge Gonzalez) should not be denied for doing her job,” said Peek.
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