Princess Casino sued for allegedly cheating GUY$20 million winner

Last Updated on Tuesday, 5 August 2014, 21:00 by GxMedia

A roofing contractor, who said Princess Casino refused to pay him a winning of more than GUY$20 million by claiming that the slot machine had malfunctioned, has sued the entity for at least GUY$25 million.

He claimed that he suffered from stress caused by frequent calls by the company to settle the matter out of court.

Somar Shako of 283 Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo has taken Georgetown Investment and Management Service Inc- trading and operating under the registered name of Princess Casino Guyana- to court for alleged  breach of an implied contractual agreement by custom on Caricom Day- July 7, 2014 at the Casino to be paid all winnings.

Shako said that after playing more than 40 games at Slot Machine 340, the said machine visually announced the jackpot winning of GUY$20,000,306.  Court documents state that after Princess Casino’s Slot Machine Attendant Supervisor, Delon, asked  Shako his name in order to make the payments, a Casino Manager asked him to remove from the machine, opened a part of it and deleted the winning message.  Shako said that by that time, many persons surrounded the machine and demanded that he be paid his winning.

He said the Princess Casino Manager then informed him that “Slot Machine # 340 was malfunctioning and that as a result they cannot make any payments to him.”

Shako said the  Casino Manager further informed him that  he had just fixed Slot Machine # 340 and that he could resume playing the said Slot Machine.

The gambler is arguing in court documents that at no time while he was gambling at that slot machine was he informed that the said Machine was not functioning nor was any notice to that effect posted within sight and that at no time did Slot Machine # 340 demonstrate any malfunctioning attributes whilst it was accepting the Plaintiff’s money to gamble.

Shako said that after the company learnt that he had retained lawyers, he was offered a payment of GUY$1 million on July 22 and GUY$4 million on July 24 and he refused both.

Shako claimed that the company had intimidated him with more than 40 telephone calls between July 22 and July 25, insisting that he accept the offer. “As a result of the harassing phone calls the Plaintiff has lost income that would have amounted to the sum of $2,000,000 (two million dollars),” his lawyers say in a statement of claim.

Shako wants the High Court to order Princess Casino’s company to award him the GUY$20,000,306 in winning, GUY$2 million  for loss of income, GUY$3 million for breach of contract,  order and or relief, which to the Court seems just and costs.

Shako is represented by lawyers Maxwell H. McKay, Mr. Lawrence Harris, Mrs. Nalenee Doobay-Dhanraj and Mr. Trenton Lake.