Harrah’s sues some directors, hotel announced

Friday, April 26, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS -- The owner of the New Orleans casino announced plans to sell property near the gambling hall to a company that will build a 400-room hotel, with blocks of rooms to be made available for casino patrons.

JCC Holding Company made the announcement Thursday. A JCC subsidiary, JCC Fulton Development LLC, will sell the land to The Varna Group-New Orleans, a Utah limited liability company.

"We are excited about the prospect of designing, developing and operating a five-star hotel facility that will complement and support the world-class Harrah's New Orleans Casino," Steve Donner, spokesman for The Varna Group said in a news release.

JCC will be involved in all aspects of design and operation of the hotel, said Preston Smart, president of JCC Fulton.

The announcement comes as JCC battles its main shareholder in court.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which manages the New Orleans casino, has sued some of the directors of JCC, accusing them of financial impropriety.

Harrah's owns 49 percent of JCC Holding and manages the casino.

In a suit filed this week in Delaware Chancery Court, Harrah's accused JCC Holding and four of its directors of self-dealing, breach of fiduciary duty and being perpetrators of a "scheme to misappropriate corporate assets."

"This suit is a joke," said JCC Holding president Paul Debban. "This will prove to be untrue, totally baseless and fabricated by Harrah's Entertainment."