Casinos sue over dead man’s debts

His estate hasn’t paid the $715,000, Caesars and Hard Rock allege

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Headlines from the Vegas gaming industry

Death is no excuse for not paying your gambling debts, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in District Court.

Attorneys for Caesars Palace and the Hard Rock Hotel filed the suit against the estate of a Colorado man the casinos claim owes them a total of $715,000.

The lawyers say 52-year-old Ryan Clark passed a series of bad checks at Caesars Palace in an attempt to cover $565,000 in gambling markers just a few days before he died on Sept. 6.

Clark also failed to make good on $150,000 in markers at the Hard Rock in August, the lawsuit alleges.

When Caesars and the Hard Rock found out about Clark’s death in November, they lodged claims with his estate, but the estate has not paid the debts, the suit charges.

“Because Clark and subsequently the estate have failed to repay the value of this benefit, they have been unjustly enriched,” the suit says.

Not only do the casinos want the $715,000, they also want to be compensated for damages and their attorneys fees.

•••

Life is getting hotter under the collar for bankrupt Pahrump developer Hans Seibt.

U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee Lenard Schwartzer has put his investigator, ex-Metro cop Bill Holland, on the shadowy trail of Seibt’s finances.

Holland has been given the green light to investigate possible fraud on Seibt’s part. Seibt and his key investment companies filed for bankruptcy Sept. 25, listing nearly $70 million in liabilities and only $15.5 million in assets. Several hundred investors, many of them seniors, lost their life savings when Seibt sought relief from his massive debt.

Holland says he will look for evidence of fraud as he traces the flow of money into and out of Seibt’s biggest investment company, Clark and Nye County Development, which once owned a 17-acre luxury RV park in Pahrump.

Looking over Holland’s shoulder will be FBI agents continuing their parallel criminal investigation of Seibt, Holland says. (The FBI, as is its practice, wouldn’t comment.)

Schwartzer and lawyers for some of Seibt’s creditors have suggested that Seibt used cash he received from new investors to pay older investors in what authorities call an illegal Ponzi scheme.

As if Seibt doesn’t have enough troubles, attorneys for Schwartzer’s boss, the Office of the U.S. Trustee, which is part of the Justice Department, will grill Seibt under oath about his finances on Feb. 20. The proceeding is similar to a deposition and usually is done when questions of financial misconduct arise involving people who file bankruptcy petitions.

•••

Ed Friedland’s presence is starting to be felt at the Regional Justice Center.

Friedland, who became District Court’s executive officer in September, has made some high-level administrative changes in an effort, as he puts it, to make the court run more efficiently for the judges and the public.

The transplanted New Yorker says he’s forbidden by law from discussing specific personnel moves. But sources say that in the past couple of weeks he has let go of two assistant administrators, Pam Towers, who oversaw Family Court, and Tim Davis, his information technology department head who also shared oversight responsibilities in Justice Court.

Also, Family Court Clerk John Jensen has been reassigned to special projects, and his duties given to Assistant Court Administrator Steve Grierson, the clerk over all civil and criminal case filings.

And there’s word that Friedland isn’t finished shaking things up at the courthouse.

Discussion: 9 comments so far…

By acrosby85254

2/10/09 at 4:06 a.m.

Suggest removal

Dam strait! Just because your dead doesn't excuse your debt.... if you owe, YOU OWE. Hey... If the family can't pay, take their house...before the bank does, and for whatever's left... Send in Rocco Fingers Knuckles, if you Know what i'm saying. Dig up that corpse and start 'breaking'... that will teach that degenerate gambler what for.
By azsk8fan

2/10/09 at 6:06 a.m.

Suggest removal

If the dead man does in fact have an estate of any value then yes, it should be used to pay off the debt - if, on the other hand he has nothing - well then the casino's get that too (nothing). Can squeeze blood out of turnip - can't made a dead man bleed red.
By denro

2/10/09 at 7:42 a.m.

Suggest removal

Surely they discovered the value of his estate prior to filing the action.
By KillerB

2/10/09 at 9:57 a.m.

Suggest removal

Regardless of anyone's opinion here, it's no surprise a person's estate is liable for all his outstanding debts. That bit of the common law has always been there.
By vandermeyj

2/10/09 at 1:41 p.m.

Suggest removal

Not to be morbid condolences to the family, but what happened....Seems like there is more of an interesting story. blow half a million then your dead a few days later?
By Lenny_V

2/10/09 at 3:45 p.m.

Suggest removal

Ya, good point. Who else did he owe money too and how did he die?
By Kelph

2/11/09 at 6:06 a.m.

Suggest removal

If the estate has money then the debt must be addressed but the casinos need to get in line with those who may also be seeking payment. Just because it's a gambling debt doesn't get them to the front of the line.

I feel sorry for the family who, besides having to deal with the death, are left to clean up the mess left behind. Think of the time, effort and emotions they must be going through and they may end up with very little or nothing when all is said and done.

Kelph
By LV4LIFE

2/11/09 at 1:51 p.m.

Suggest removal

Ha, ha, ha! The casino gambled on this man paying off those markers and just kept on giving them to him. The casino lost. Now they want to go after his estate and basically family. Suck it up big casinos boo hooo hooooooo!
By Longoverdue

2/12/09 at 8:39 p.m.

Suggest removal

In regards to the recent 'shake up' at the RJC... Finally, an administrator who holds staff accountable and is acting in the best interest of the Taxpayers & the Judicial Branch of Government. It's about time we get some quality talent in our local government.

If the previous administrator, Charles "Chuck" Short, had been doing his job, these "high level administrative" changes would not have fallen in the lap of Mr. Friedland. Charles Short had been playing politics (at a kindergarden level) on the taxpayers dime for too long.... Let's all hope he stays in whatever hole he is buried in... Way to go Mr. Friedland, Keep up the Great Work!