CBS issues retraction over segment on Doumani brothers

Monday, Jan. 11, 1999 | 1:52 a.m.

The news magazine, in a March 24, 1996, segment on the Bicycle Club card club in Southern California, indicated Fred Doumani was invited to bid on the Bicycle Club, which at the time was being run by the federal government.

In the segment, Ed Bradley referred to Fred Doumani as having "ties to many mob figures."

The brothers sued CBS for defamation, Ed Doumani said Monday.

In the retraction Sunday, the show displayed a photo of Fred Doumani and indicated "We have now learned that the photo was of Ed Doumani."

Anchor Leslie Stahl also indicated that the brothers had been cleared last year in a federal fraud case that alleged they diverted $34 million in a judgment from a lawsuit over the 1979 sale of the Tropicana hotel-casino.

Ed Doumani said Monday the retraction resolved the brothers' quarrel with the network.

"There is no lawsuit," he said. "We're pleased," Ed Doumani said, noting that there was no cash settlement.

"It was strictly the retraction, which was all we asked for."

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