'Girls Gone Wild' sued for $2 million in gambling debt

[Amby 490]

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis is being sued by a Las Vegas Strip casino for $2 million in gambling debts from February of last year.

Francis spokesman Ronn Torossian said Tuesday that the man who built the soft porn empire already had satisfied his debt to the Wynn Las Vegas casino through "prior agreements."

In a statement, Francis said he planned to fight the lawsuit.

"The Wynn hotel has chosen not to honor its agreement to apply certain discounts to balances they have already been paid for," Francis said.

Francis said he was waiting for his day in court with Wynn Resorts Ltd. Chief Executive Steve Wynn and planned on "exposing how exactly Mr. Wynn deceives his high end customers."

Wynn Las Vegas spokeswoman Jennifer Dunne said she could not comment on the specifics of the lawsuit but said the casino wouldn't have sued unless other options were exhausted.

"We don't file lawsuits against people after 30, 60, 90 days," Dunne said. "This has been an issue with our collections department for some time."

The resort said in the lawsuit filed Friday in Clark County District Court that it loaned Francis $2.8 million in February 2007 but was repaid only $800,000. The suit seeks the remainder of the loan plus costs.

Francis, 35, also faces federal charges that he claimed more than $20 million in phony tax deductions for 2002 and 2003 and used offshore accounts to conceal income. A federal judge in April ordered Francis' trial on the charges moved to Los Angeles because he and most other witnesses in the case live in Southern California.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/01/gambling.debt.ap/index.html

[pedroh 21]

not such a smart cat after all..