Resorts World Las Vegas president Scott Sibella is fighting a recent subpoena in the messy multimillion-dollar bankruptcy litigation of controversial Strip high roller Brandon Sattler.
In a response filed Jan. 25 in US Bankruptcy Court in Las Vegas through Resorts World Chief Counsel Gerald Gardner, Sibella objects to the subpoena served on Jan. 11 in a lawsuit that claims Sattler bilked investors in his SattCom Video, LLC, out of millions. Sibella’s chief response: He has none of the information being requested and knows Sattler only as a former customer.
As for any rumors to the contrary, Gardner reminds the court, “Scott Sibella has no personal or business relationship with [Sattler.]”
Sattler last year gambled hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time when his investors were chasing him for money. He claimed, instead, that he was pouring the funds into a successful business that was in the process of installing hundreds of televisions in casino resorts. Court documents in his bankruptcy case are littered with unkept promises and tall tales of his many contacts in the casino industry from Las Vegas to Florida.
In October 2018, angry creditors began filing multiple lawsuits against Sattler through Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. They have default judgments in the millions, but they continue to pursue Sattler.
The subpoena of Sibella was filed by attorney Mark M. Weisenmiller, who represents jilted investors James Russell, Grant Whitcher, and Julie Russell.
Their rage would appear justified. While Sattler was insisting in documents that his marginal payments to the court were all he could afford and still be able to “put food on the table and pay utilities,” he was busy living large on the Strip. From June 15 to Sept. 28, the records show he made at least 16 trips to Wynn Las Vegas and made a series of mid-five-figure deposits – all after he’d been sanctioned by the court for dragging his feet.
It’s interesting to note that no top executive from Wynn Las Vegas was subpoenaed in association with the lawsuit.
From June 24 to Oct. 28, he lit up the tables at Resorts World with seven visits and nearly $400,000 in wagers. According to court documents, he came out approximately $50,000 ahead.
Not that his victims saw much of that cash.
On Oct. 25, 2021, about the time Sattler was throwing his money around Resorts World, he was signing a stipulated final judgment admitting he owed investor Mary Cassidy $1.6 million. In other words, he threw in the towel.
Sattler admitted that beginning in early 2014, he informed Cassidy of his business plan and sought her participation. She invested $500,000 on Aug. 11 of that year with a promised interest rate of 9 percent.
He also admitted he “repeatedly refused to pay the full amount and the interest accrued.” By signing the stipulated order, he waived all defense in the legal matter.
It’s unclear how much of the money Cassidy will ever see, but Las Vegas casinos saw plenty of it long after Sattler should have been repaying his investors.
It is common for casinos to receive document subpoenas in litigation involving their players. It is far less common for such legal actions to subpoena the president of the resort.
After denying Sibella had any personal or business relationship with Sattler, Gardner added, “Furthermore, Plaintiff previously served a subpoena upon RWLV seeking documentation and communications concerning Debtor/Defendant’s activities as a former customer of RWLV. RWLV provided responsive documents to that subpoena which constitute the entirety of documents and communications that exist between Scott Sibella, RWLV, and Debtor/Defendant.”
Gardner goes further, calling out what he calls the irrelevance of the request for documents that are outside the scope of discovery in the lawsuit.
“Accordingly, this Subpoena is unduly burdensome and proffered solely to harass non-party Scott Sibella. As such, Scott Sibella will not produce any documents, communications or electronically stored information in response to this Subpoena.”
That sounds final.
So why do I get the feeling this might not be over yet?
