Venetian sues gambler

Monday, Nov. 4, 2002 | 11:05 a.m.

HONG KONG -- A Las Vegas casino has sued a Hong Kong businessman who allegedly owed it $700,040 in debts, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The Venetian Casino Resort, owned by Sheldon Adelson, chairman of Las Vegas Sands Inc., filed court papers to demand Stephen Chu Nin-yiu repay the alleged debts, the South China Morning Post reported.

Court documents said the casino advanced $1 million in credit to Chu in June 2001, the newspaper reported.

Chu, who works for a computer trading firm, STD Holdings Ltd., in Hong Kong, allegedly repaid nearly $300,000, but failed to settle the rest of the debt by an Oct. 24 deadline.

Calls to Chu's company went unanswered Sunday.

In June The Venetian was awarded one of three licenses to run casinos in Hong Kong's neighboring gambling enclave of Macau.