On Oct. 13, 2017, Ron Meyer, the former Hollywood mogul who headed Universal Studios for 18 years, gambled at Mohegan Sun.
“He did not win.”
So says a revised complaint the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority filed in late June in New London Superior Court, alleging Meyer owes the casino $2,782,500.
That’s after the casino had extended Meyer $6 million in credit to gamble, $5 million of which he lost that October day nearly seven years ago. He eventually repaid $2,217,500 of the debt in accordance with the terms of a payment plan the parties signed in April 2018.
Meyer, 79, a resident of Santa Monica, Calif., hasn’t made a payment since Sept. 1, 2023, according to the lawsuit.
Now Meyer, in a motion to strike the gaming authority’s breach-of-contract complaint, contends the Mohegan Tribe’s gaming compact with the state does not permit the extension of credit for gambling, rendering the payment plan void.
“Connecticut has ‘an ancient and deep-rooted' ban on lending money to gamblers” Meyer’s attorney, Brian Spears, writes in a memorandum filed in court Friday. “The prohibition of gambling on credit has been a part of anti-gambling statutes in this state for about two hundred years.”
Spears claims gambling on credit is only permitted at Connecticut’s tribal casinos if the controlling tribal-state compact expressly authorizes it, which the suit says the Mohegan-state compact does not.
Interestingly, he notes the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe’s compact with the state expressly allows for the extension of credit for gambling at the Mashantuckets’ Foxwoods Resort Casino.
“Unlike the Mohegan Compact, the Mashantucket Compact contains straightforward, detailed provisions governing the extension of credit,” Spears writes. “Because the Mashantucket Compact expressly addresses gambling on credit, courts have repeatedly held that it supersedes Connecticut’s statutory prohibition against such practices.”
Spears, of Spears Manning and Martini, a Southport law firm, declined to discuss the case Tuesday. A Mohegan spokesman cited the tribe’s long-standing policy of not commenting on litigation.
According to the revised complaint, Meyer signed a Mohegan Sun credit application in August 2015, requesting a limit of $5,000.
On Oct. 13, 2017, he signed checks, or “markers,” payable to the gaming authority (“MTGA”) totaling $6 million. He redeemed one check in the amount of $1 million, and the MTGA kept five others with a total face value of $5 million, the lawsuit says.
After Meyer lost at the gaming tables ― the game or games he played are not specified in the court record ― the MTGA agreed to give him time to cover the checks. When the MTGA presented the checks for payment on April 4, 2018, they all were returned by the bank for insufficient funds.
Meyer and the MTGA signed an agreement on April 26, 2018, that outlined an installment plan for the repayment of the $5 million. Meyer was to make an initial payment of $250,000, monthly payments of $60,000 from May 1, 2018 through Sept. 1, 2022 and a final payment of $45,960.
The MTGA agreed to discount the debt by $1,524,040 if Meyer made the installment payments on time. However, he only kept up with the schedule of payments through September 2020 and made lesser payments at times thereafter, the lawsuit says.
Meyer co-founded Creative Artists Agency in 1975, and served as president and chief operating officer of Universal Studios from 1995 to 2013. He then became vice chairman of NBCUniversal, holding that position until his resignation in 2020.
Meyer has run up large debts playing craps and poker at major casinos across the country, news outlets have reported.
b.hallenbeck@theday.com
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