Ritz Casino Wins High Court Battle to Recover P1 Million from Gamblers - Blog

The Ritz Casino has won a court battle to recover £1 million from a wealthy gambler who failed to pay money owed.

Noura Abdullah Mahawish Al Daher, who is married to Oman's Foreign Minister, lost £2 million gambling at a London casino, but only paid half of what she owed, leading to a High Court battle.

The court heard that on the night of April 3, 2012, a check she had signed in exchange for gambling chips was dishonored. A few months later, she and her family gambled away 3 million pounds ($5 million) in Las Vegas.

Mrs. Aldahel, known as Nora to her Western acquaintances, claimed that the casino had a "duty of care" toward her, claiming that casino staff knew she was a gambler or problem gambler and should have stopped her from placing bets.

The claims by Ritz were based on "illegality" and illegal extensions of credit, she argued.

Her lawyers argued that the signs of her addiction were evident in the period leading up to that night, the amount of gambling she did that night, and by her statements.

High Court Deputy Judge Seys Llewellyn QC ruled that there was no legal basis to uphold her claim and awarded the casino "£1 million as claimed" plus interest.

'I find that there was no illegal credit extended to Mrs. Al-Daher.

On the issue of duty of care, he said: 'In my judgment, the authority does not support such a duty.'

The judge found that even if Mrs. al-Daher had been denied permission to continue gambling at the Ritz Casino, "she would have been eager and willing to gamble at other casinos thereafter, and perhaps even during her stay in London in the days or weeks following April 3, 2012. I would have been eager and willing to gamble in casinos, and probably did so during my stay in topcanadiancasinos.org in the days and weeks following April 3, 2012.

It is amazing that two or three months later, in June, she and her family gambled away $5 million in Las Vegas," he said.

Mrs. al-Daher is married to Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud al-Busaidi, Oman's foreign minister. The judge described her as "a woman of great wealth. It came from family funds left in Saudi Arabia by her late father, while her husband was wealthy in his own right through his business in Oman and the Saudi conglomerates, he said.

Judge Llewellyn dismissed Mrs. Aldahel's counterclaim to recover £1 million of the debt, which she paid in December 2012.

On the night she lost the £2 million, she had signed and given checks for £200,000 and £300,000 in exchange for gambling chips.

The judge said it was her habit to sign checks for such sums to the casino, but the check she signed that night was dishonored.

In December 2012, she paid the casino £1 million, but the £1 million was unpaid and the casino was entitled to that amount back.

The son of a Las Vegas judge has admitted to being the motorcycle-helmeted bandit caught on video brandishing a gun as he made off with $1.5 million (£900,000) in gambling chips from a casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

Anthony Michael Carleo, 29, apologized to a Nevada judge and said he was "very stupid" when he scooped the chips from the craps table at Bellagio, one of the Strip's most luxurious entertainment, gambling, and hotel resorts. Carleo then pointed a handgun at the attendant, jumped on his motorcycle, and drove away in the early morning hours of December 14. No shots were fired. He pleaded guilty to felony charges of armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon and could face three to 36 years in state prison, according to prosecutor Chris Owens.

Clark County District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt is scheduled to sentence him on August 23.

Carleo is scheduled to plead guilty to similar charges in a separate case stemming from a December 9 robbery at the Suncoast Hotel & Casino, also in Las Vegas. Owens told reporters that he could receive additional jail time on these charges.

As part of the plea deals in the two cases, prosecutors agreed to drop several other assault, burglary, and weapons charges and not seek additional drug and weapons charges related to the cases investigated by police.

Carleo, the son of Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge George Assad, is being held in the Clark County Jail on $1 million bail.

Judge Assad was removed this month from his position as presiding judge, a position he has held since 2002. Judge Assad has made no comment on the case since Carleo's arrest in Bellagio on February 2. According to police, Carleo was arrested while attempting to sell a $25,000 tip to an undercover Las Vegas police officer.

Assad said at the time that he was "devastated and heartbroken" about himself and his family. As a prosecutor and as a judge, he said: "I have always felt that those who break the law must be held accountable."

Police said the Suncoast robbery, in which about $19,000 in cash was stolen, was a kind of rehearsal for the Bellagio robbery five days later. In both incidents, a robber on a motorcycle entered with his helmet on and intercepted the surveillance video. He showed his gun and left the gambling establishment within seconds. No one was injured in either incident.

Bellagio's chips, which cost between $10,000 and $25,000 apiece, drew intense media interest and comparisons to Hollywood movies such as "Ocean's Eleven." However, experts say the perpetrators may have trouble redeeming their loot.

According to police, after the Bellagio robbery, Carleo spent two months partying and gambling at the casino, unable to decide what to do with the high-value chips, known as "cranberries" because of their color. He eventually approached a casual poker player on a popular web forum and sent him a photo of two $25,000 Bellagio chips signed "Biker Bandit."

Owens stated that approximately $375,000 in Bellagio chips are still missing.

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