Trump sues tribe, rival developer

Stephen Singer

Tuesday, June 3, 2003 | 9:39 a.m.

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- Donald Trump is suing the Eastern Pequots, accusing the tribe of violating an agreement by rejecting his proposed casino in favor of one planned by a developer from Fairfield.

The lawsuit, filed in New London Superior Court last week, demands that the tribe fulfill the terms of the agreement. Trump also wants the judge to declare the tribe in default of the contract and order the Eastern Pequots to pay him $10.1 million.

It names Fairfield developer David A. Rosow and numerous other individuals, including tribe members, as defendants.

Trump signed a development agreement with the Paucatuck Eastern Pequots in 1999 and Rosow signed an agreement with the rival Eastern Pequots in 2000. In June 2002 the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs recognized the two groups as a single tribe, the Eastern Pequots, forcing them to choose one developer as their partner.

Trump's lawyer, Robert I. Reardon Jr. of New London, said the billionaire developer sued reluctantly.

"This is not the way we want to go as business people," Reardon told a news conference.

The contract between Trump and the Paucatucks called for Trump to be the developer of the tribe's casino. In exchange, Trump helped fund the tribe's effort to win federal recognition, he said in court papers.

Trump accuses Rosow's company, Eastern Capital Development LLC, of devising a "scheme to unlawfully influence and-or coerce" several tribal members to repudiate the agreement.

The Tribal Council, which includes nine members from the larger Eastern faction and five members from the smaller Paucatuck faction, chose Rosow over Trump.

Rosow said in a statement that the lawsuit is "based on unfounded and extraordinary allegations with little basis in the issues or the facts."

"Using the courts to recover from a bad business deal is never a good idea, especially when innocent people are harmed by irresponsible allegations," he said.

Marcia Jones Flowers, chairwoman of the Tribal Council, called the lawsuit "just another challenge we will overcome together."

Trump, whose company owns casinos in Atlantic City and has a stake in a holding corporation that owns the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, would successfully run a casino in southeastern Connecticut, Reardon said.

"Mr. Trump is a world-class businessman," he said.

The tribe cannot build a casino while the BIA's recognition decision is being appealed, a process that could take years.