Casino keeps up pursuit of heavy loser

Wednesday, April 21, 1999 | 9:24 a.m.

The Mirage Casino-Hotel is suing Chang Wahid Hatta and his wife, Pei Yin Hatta, for more than $870,000 it says it is owed from a 1991 loan the Mirage advanced in "markers and other credit instruments" to Hatta.

About seven months after the loan was made, Hatta transferred his half-interest in his Vancouver home to his wife, but that didn't put the casino's collectors off the trail.

After years of attempts to get Hatta to pay the loan, the Mirage took him to court in Nevada in November 1995 and won a default judgment of $579,000, plus interest, costs and the casino's legal fees.

Mirage lawyer, James Goulden, said a common misconception he has come across in such cases is the notion some debtors have that they can avoid debts owed to a foreign creditor.

"You find some of them tend to take the ostrich approach," Goulden said Tuesday.

He has been unable to serve the Hattas with the lawsuit, which was filed in B.C. Supreme Court.

It lists four aliases for Chang Wahid Hatta - Hatta Wahio Chang, Hatta Chang, Chang Wahio Hatta and Chang W. Hatta.

Hatta agreed in May 1991 to repay the loan on demand, says the Mirage's statement of claim, and "further agreed to pay interest on all amounts owing to the plaintiff at a rate of 18 per cent per annum, compounded annually."

The casino also claims it "made demand of Hatta for the payment of the (1995) Nevada judgment and this defendant has either refused or neglected to satisfy same."

The casino also is seeking a declaration that Hatta's transfer of his share of the house to his wife is null and void, and a court order that the house be sold and the proceeds "be paid into court to the credit of the plaintiff."