Macau (MNA) – A former official of the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) told Macau News Agency (MNA) that he decided not to follow-up on his appeal against a ruling by the Court of First Appeal (TJB) favouring Wynn Macau over his damage claims lawsuit, but that he is pondering legal action in the United States.
As initially revealed by newspaper Business Daily, Rogelio Yusi Bangsil Jr., a former Officer in Charge of PAGCOR’s Gaming Department sued Wynn Macau after he and his wife’s names were cited in a report commissioned in 2011 regarding an alleged “improper relationship” between former Steve Wynn’s partner and casino owner in the Philippines, Kazuo Okada, and executives, officials and consultants of the country’s regulator and casino operator PAGCOR.
With the final allegations having being held in March of this year, the TJB ruled against Mr. Bangsil’s MOP10 million (US$1.2 million) damages claim, as revealed in a court announcement on July 13.
Mr. Bangsil initially intended to appeal the TJB decision but told MNA now that after “considering additional the legal fees” he would have to incur decided not to follow up with the required arguments – generally to be submitted 30 to 40 days after a court decision – to take his appeal forward.
The legal defense team of Wynn Macau confirmed to MNA that the appeal had indeed not been pursued.
Mr. Bangsil told MNA he believes he was not able to appropriately prove his claim, citing “faulty” Chinese to English translations during court proceedings, and that he now intends to start similar legal proceedings against Wynn in the US.
“Since in my case the violation was actually done in the US, I may have better chances of getting justice there. I’m consulting now with US lawyers to file the case there,” Mr. Bangsil told MNA.
According to the former PAGCOR official, a similar lawsuit filed by the former CEO of Wynn Macau, Steve Wynn, in the US showed showed an alleged lack of regard by Wynn towards private privacy, “even with its own shareholders”.
Wynn filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to try and avoid the public release of an investigative report said to contain sensible information connected to its past litigation against former business partner Kazuo Okada.
