Wynn Resorts Limited being sued in Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, American casino operator Wynn Resorts Limited is reportedly being sued amid claims that it breached a handshake agreement by not paying a former minority owner of this land under the approaching Encore Boston Harbor development just around $18.67 million.

According to reports by the Boston Globe and Boston Herald papers, Anthony Gattineri filed his suit in Boston federal court on Tuesday alleging fraud, unfair trade practices and breach of contract due to Wynn Resorts Limited’s ‘calculated refusal to honor their contract’ regarding the 33-acre plot it purchased in 2014.

The papers reported that Gattineri held a 46% stake in an entity called FBT Everett Realty, which agreed a deal in late-2012 that would have seen it sell the land for the five-star beachfront development to the Las Vegas-based casino giant for about $75 million. But, the proposed sale shortly became embroiled in controversy following the Massachusetts Gaming Commission discovered via its licensing investigations that convicted felon, Charles Lightbody, was also to participate in the trade.

Consequently, the regulator reportedly ruled that the Everett site for the coming integrated casino resort must be sold in the fair market value of $35 million in order to stop Lightbody from inordinately profiting from the offer. Though he was opposed to the less lucrative arrangement, Gattineri stated that he could not stop the transaction on account of the fact that he was a minority partner in FBT Everett Realty.

However, the papers reported that the Massachusetts Gaming Commission as a part of its licensing process had asked Gattineri to support a document certifying that he and his partners’ ownership of FBT Everett Realty was ‘for themselves and no additional entities or persons ’. After agreeing to sign, the former landowner alleges that he fulfilled with Wynn Resorts agent, Robert DeSalvio, at San Diego at which the casino executive had offered to reward him with a percentage of the purchase price reduction in exchange for his signature.

Gattineri further declared that DeSalvio had threatened him with bad publicity combined with ‘dire economic implications ’ in addition to detailing that his refusal to sign would lead to ‘a possibly fatal problem for Wynn Resorts Limited’s licensing prospects’ at Massachusetts.

The papers reported that Gattineri asserts that he agreed a deal for his signature via a handshake with DeSalvio but his suit alleges that Wynn Resorts Limited had far ‘took no steps to meet its duties under the contract it made. ’

“Mr DeSalvio did not deny that Wynn [Resorts Limited] owed Mr Gattineri that the sum to make him whole,” reportedly reads Gattineri’s complaint. “Wynn [Resorts Limited], however, has refused to either make the agreed payment to Anthony Gattineri or to make arrangements to do so. It now seems painfully apparent that Wynn [Resorts Limited] never had any intention of honoring its agreement. ”

In dismissing Gattineri’s allegations, Wynn Resorts Limited spokesperson, Greg John, reportedly released a statement claiming that the lawsuit ‘is an endeavor to now extract an extra multi-million-dollar payment from our company beyond what was negotiated and accepted. ’

“Mr Gattineri’s claim that a publicly-traded business in a highly-regulated industry would execute a $20 million trade on a handshake deal with no documentation or paperwork is implausible and will be aggressively defended by Wynn [Resorts Limited],” browse John’s statement.