Atlantic City, NJ - Mr. Darrell Miller of Cincinnati, OH has filed a claim against DGMB Casinos, LLC the operator of Resorts Casino and Hotel and Mr. Steve Laning, alleging violations of the New Jersey Civil Rights Act of 2004.
The suit claims Resorts violated Mr. Miller’s civil rights by “an improper, illegal and perverted use of the…legal process in a way that was neither warranted nor authorized by law and with the ulterior motive of using the criminal justice system to recapture losses that resulted from its own negligence.” Co-defendants in the suit are the State of New Jersey, Deputy Attorney General Yvonne Maher and Detective Sergeant Paul Horsey.
Resorts Casino claimed Mr. Miller and other defendants took advantage of a flaw in the Resorts computer system that failed to recognize a player had been in the casino to redeem the free play offers. This supposedly caused Resorts to send over $10,000 per month in free play to Mr. Miller they claim he was not entitled. In the highly competitive Atlantic City market, casinos regularly send free play to entice patrons to their casino.
Mr. Laning, Senior Investigator for Resorts Casino testified to the Grand Jury there “was a flaw in the system” and they knew of 100 patrons taking advantage of this flaw. Resorts narrowed the “list down to approximately 30 people” from which Resorts chose to use criminal legal process to attempt to claw back the casino’s losses. Mr. Laning then contacted Detective Horsey of the Financial Crimes Unit, Gaming Enforcement Division, of the NJ State Police. On January 17, 2012, Detective Horsey led a task force which arrested five individuals at Resorts Casino who were charged with computer theft. Mr. Miller was not arrested on this date because he was at his home in Cincinnati, OH. Charges were filed against Mr. Miller based on false testimony that Mr. Miller was “identified through video surveillance” that he was in Resorts on the date the task force conducted their operations.
On November 2, 2012, the case against Mr. Miller and the other defendants was dismissed due to lack of evidence a crime had been committed. During the hearing, Judge Michael A. Donio was quoted as asking if Resorts Casino is “that dumb?” and “is that why they are losing millions of dollars?”
Mr. Miller filed suit in May of 2014 alleging violations of the NJ Civil Rights Act of 2004. He is seeking to recover over $35,000 in legal fees and expenses as well as punitive damages for the malicious prosecution. The indictment came just one week after Mr. Miller and his wife were becoming guardians for two developmentally delayed children. The case caused Mr. Miller to be away from home for three weeks after getting the children and the dismissal hearing occurred on his new son’s 2nd birthday, which Mr. Miller missed. Mr. Miller said, “This has been an extremely traumatic event for our newly formed family. My wife and I were concerned we would not be allowed to take in these children. Plus the additional financial burden has been tremendous.”
DGMB Casinos, LLC and Mr. Laning have denied all claims and asserted a cross claim for contribution and indemnification against the State co-defendants. This means if negligence is found, then Resorts believes the State of New Jersey was also negligent in its prosecution of Mr. Miller.
1 comments:
Don't get me wrong, I love when a casino gets caught up in its own greed and it backfires on them...but there are some shady people both running the casinos and gambling.
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