Casino news from http://wvgazette.com/
Operators of a second Atlantic City, N.J., casino have sued Powerball winner Jack Whittaker for allegedly writing checks from a closed bank account in West Virginia.
Lawyers for Bally’s Park Place Inc., known as Bally’s Atlantic City, filed their lawsuit June 13 in U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J. Whittaker was already battling similar claims from Boardwalk Regency Corp., the parent company of Caesars Atlantic City.
The casinos allege Whittaker wrote bad checks to cover credit lines he wanted at the casinos.
The Bally’s allegations stem from three checks that Whittaker wrote to the casino in July 2004. According to the casino’s lawsuit, Whittaker wrote three checks on July 30 and 31 in 2004. City National Bank in Charleston returned the two $20,000 checks and a $60,000 check because the account had been closed, according to the lawsuit.
Bally’s officials have demanded repayment, but Whittaker has not paid, according to the lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle has referred the case for arbitration.
Around the same time, Whittaker wrote 21 checks to Caesars totaling $1.5 million, according to that lawsuit. All of those checks were returned. Caesars has asked Whittaker to repay the money, but he has refused to do so, according to their lawsuit.
Whittaker responded to the Caesars lawsuit with counterclaims that he owes Caesars nothing because of a financial agreement with the casino. That allegedly included a 10 percent credit on his losses and royalties from a “Cowboy Jack” slot machine he developed.
The Caesars case was filed in May 2005. It is still pending.
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