Big money
A mining company is suing Wynn Resorts after a man used money from the firm to gamble at one of its casinos. James Bay Resources Ltd claims that former Philippines decathlete David Bunevacz gambled away about $3.8m at the Wynn Las Vegas, with some of the money belonging to the Canadian Stock Exchange-listed company.
The company’s president, Stephen Shefsky, loaned $1.1m to Bunevacz
He was on probation at the time after receiving a prison sentence for selling securities without the necessary qualifications. The company’s president, Stephen Shefsky, loaned $1.1m to Bunevacz, while the mining firm gave a total of $3.5m to two companies under the control of the 56-year-old and his daughter.
Various allegations
The lawsuit against Wynn, filed in the Ontario Court of Justice in April, claims the casino company was negligent and benefited from unjust enrichment.
allegedly failed to do a background check to uncover Bunevacz’s criminal history
It allegedly failed to do a background check to uncover Bunevacz’s criminal history and the various civil lawsuits and tax liens against him. The plaintiff argues this would raise doubts about the legitimacy of the money he was gambling with.
The complaint also questions why Wynn didn’t stop Bunevacz from gambling when he was exhibiting clear signs of gambling addiction.
A shady history
It eventually came to light that the former decathlete raised more than $39m for a fraudulent vape pen business from 40 investors, ultimately gambling away about $8m of that total. He received a 17-and-a-half-year prison sentence in 2022 for his crimes.
That wasn’t the first time the grifter ripped off investors. He sold 17,000 Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 tickets to a company for more than $10m without delivering the allocation. They settled the case following a three-year legal battle.
