Las Vegas Sands is officially out US$101.6 million to Chinese businessman Richard Suen.
That’s the number in the final judgment signed this week in Las Vegas by Clark County District Judge Rob Bare, counting interest that has accrued at 5.25% going back to 20th October 2004, when Mr Suen, a one-time consultant for LVS, first sued the company to enforce an agreement entitling him to a lump-sum payment plus a percentage of the company’s profits in Macau in exchange for having used his contacts and influence in China to help LVS secure the lucrative license that has been the foundation of its profitability ever since.
Sands contends Mr Suen did nothing and the company won the license on its own. A Las Vegas jury disagreed five years ago, awarding Mr Suen $43.8 million, which grew to $58 million with attorneys’ fees and interest. That verdict was overturned in 2010 by the Nevada Supreme Court and the case was ordered to be retried. Two weeks ago, the second jury disagreed again, awarding Mr Suen $70 million.
This time, LVS wanted the bills for the lawyers omitted, but Judge Bare’s order includes them and gives Mr Suen’s attorneys 20 days to submit a request for payment.
As for the $31.6 million in interest, that will grow at a rate of $8,400 a day until the judgment is paid or is overturned on appeal.
“We think this verdict will withstand any appeal,” Mr Suen’s attorney John O’Malley told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “The question we have for Mr. [Sheldon] Adelson is, when will he pay this debt.”
LVS, not surprisingly, has vowed to appeal.
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