A civil racketeering case will be brought in front of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California in December, involving Steve Wynn, the former CEO of Wynn Resorts. Wynn is alleged to have acted as a foreign agent by lobbying on China’s behalf for the Trump Administration in 2017.
Attorneys for the prosecution say that Wynn should have declared himself a federal agent through the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
This case ties in with two civil lawsuits filed against Wynn in Nevada – by former Wynn salon manager Angelica Limcaco – that accuses him of sexual assault against herself and also one of her salon workers.
Limcaco further claims that Wynn inserted Barbara Buckley, the recipient of numerous donations from Wynn Resorts, as a magistrate judge in the 2019 Nevada ruling, where her case was thrown out.
Weinberg Gonser Frost partner Jordan Matthew, commented: “In December 2020, after a thorough investigation, we filed a civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act case in Central District, California on behalf of Angelica Limcaco and against Steve Wynn over alleged attempts to use improper payments and influence to elevate Wynn Las Vegas’ counsel to the position of a judge in Nevada District Court and to dismiss Limcaco’s case.”
The follow-up California case was dismissed, in October 2021, by US District Judge Ronald Lew, who said that Limcaco’s case relied upon circumstantial evidence and “implausibly circumstantial speculative assumptions.”
However, in both of these cases, Limcaco alleges Wynn “exerted improper influence over public officials in the manner in which they do business.”
The civil racketeering case is scheduled for December 6 in Long Beach, California, after Wynn Resorts lost a request for summary judgment. The 9th Circuit will hear the matter based on the merits of the case through oral argument.
