Canadian billionaire Michael DeGroote is suffering from failing health and accelerating dementia and is mentally unfit to participate in a 0 million casino fraud case, his lawyers have said in court.
The motion seeks to appoint a litigation guardian for the 83-year-old businessman in the Dream Casino lawsuit. DeGroote has filed a fraud lawsuit against Dream Casino Corp saying he lent the company $120 million to expand casino operations in the Caribbean.
Lawyers said their client is suffering from chronic pain and dementia and can no longer remember key dates of his life, or name the current US president, according to a report in Casino.org news.
DeGroote filed the legal action in 2012, seeking $200 million in damages for fraud and breach of trust from Dream Casino Corp and its majority owners, Canadian-Italian brothers Antonio and Francesco Carbone.
According to court filings, DeGroote lent the company $120 million to extend their casino chain in the Dominican Republic. The funds were allegedly spent on luxury living by a group of people associated with the company.
Andrew Pajak, a shareholder in the company, allegedly convinced DeGroote to make the investment. Pajak has been linked to organized crime in media reports.
Antonio Carbone was later arrested in the Dominican Republic on a charge of attempted murder of Fernando Baez Guerrero, a Dominican lawyer and manager for Dream Casino Corp. Carbone has been held without trial ever since, while his brother has disappeared, declared fugitive, Casionnews.org reported.
