Wynn Resorts is suing hedge fund manager Jim Chanos for slander, saying he falsely accused the casino operator of violating a U.S. anti-bribery law.
At an event in Berkeley, California, the president and founder of New York-based Kynikos Associates LP made a public statement that Wynn Resorts and Chairman Steve Wynn had violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, according to a complaint the company filed last month in federal court in San Francisco.
“Wynn and Wynn Resorts have been thoroughly investigated in a public manner on numerous occasions by entities such as the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other government agencies,” the company said in the complaint.
Chanos reportedly made the charges on an episode of the PBS series Frontline that focused on the VIP sector in the Macau gaming industry. The show was pulled from the schedule at the last minute and has not been rescheduled.
It’s not the first time Wynn has faced such accusations, reports Bloomberg. The U.S. Justice Department has been investigating Kazuo Okada, former director of Wynn Resorts, who was ousted as a controlling shareholder after he alleged that Wynn made improper payments to gaming regulators in the Philippines?specifically, Wynn’s $135 million donation to a university in Macau.
“At no time has any official agency suggested that there is any reliable evidence that plaintiffs, or either of them, have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” according to the complaint.
According to Bloomberg, Wynn seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
