Man: LV woman defrauded gamblers

Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2001 | 10:24 a.m.

An Austin, Texas-based company and an alleged high-profile gambler sued his alleged former fiancee, claiming she defrauded them of $112,000 and allegedly traded sexual favors for loans.

In a Clark County District Court lawsuit, Founders Acquisition & Merger Inc. and James Noryian sued Susan Penny, whom he said he met while she was working at the Stratosphere Tower in November 1999.

The suit alleges Penny, who is now an Aladdin hotel-casino host, used her relationship with Noryian to "befriend other high-profile gamblers in Las Vegas casinos including some married individuals and traded sexual favors ... to obtain monies through fraud."

Noryian claimed Penny obtained $198,000 in loans from various entities associated with Noryian, including Founders and his brother, David, and allegedly stole a blank check from Noryian, forged Founders President William Brown's signature and withdrew $62,000 from Founders' account.

Steven Shinn, the plaintiffs' attorney, said Noryian is one of Founders' business associates and was entrusted with several blank checks that were to be used to pay Founders' expenses.

"Noryian tried to file criminal charges over the forged check issue but (Clark County) District Attorney Stewart Bell didn't do anything about it," Shinn said.

Bell could not be reached for comment.

Noryian alleged he has recovered $148,000 of the loans Penny allegedly obtained, but an outstanding $50,000 remains. He said he hasn't recovered the $62,000 that was allegedly stolen.

Penny declined to comment on the allegations.