Genting Wants $600M Resorts World Bimini Resorts ‘False Accounting’ Suit Tossed

The gaming behemoth Genting has requested a federal court in Florida to throw out a $600 million lawsuit that claims the Malaysian operator engaged in fraud and deceptive accounting practices. 

The lawsuit was initiated last month by RAV Bahamas, which collaborated with Genting on the creation of Resorts World Bimini in the Bahamas. 

RAV, which is owned by the Capo family from Florida, asserts it has never experienced any return on investment as Genting has transformed the project into a “financial wasteland” and burdened the venture with $885 million in debt. 

Dispute Among Shareholders 

Genting argues that the case should be thrown out, claiming it is a dispute between shareholders that must be resolved in the Bahamas as per the shareholders' agreement, not in a US court. It also contends that the allegations in the complaint are subject to the statute of limitations since they assert fraud starting in 2014. 

Additionally, the motion to dismiss states that the complaint does not claim that Genting Americas made a misleading statement or that it was aware any supposed claims were false. 

“The Complaint also makes the legally unsupportable claim that Genting Americas conspired with itself and tortiously interfered with its own alleged business relationship,” it continues.  “Additionally, the Complaint fails to allege a duty owed by Genting Americas sufficient to sustain its constructive fraud or negligence claims.”

‘Intentionally Disabled’ 

RAV started to develop the northernmost section of North Bimini Island in 2002, and by 2011, had built the Bimini Bay resort. 

In 2012, Genting persuaded RAV to collaborate on a casino project that would enhance the resort. BB Entertainment was established by the two companies to manage and expand the project. 

RAV claims that Genting has “intentionally undermined” its attempts to gain insight into the financials, such as refusing RAV complete access to BBE’s financial documents and rejecting its demands for an independent audit. 

RAV points out in its lawsuit that BBE’s debt of $885 million exceeded the total liabilities of Genting Malaysia and its roughly 150 subsidiaries. 

“Only a massive and coordinated fraud could dump nearly a billion dollars of debt on a small island resort, where RAV had already developed most of the significant infrastructure,” RAV claimed in its lawsuit, adding that Genting’s “opaque corporate structure, comprised of layer-upon-layer of subsidiaries, helps [it] conceal its financial improprieties and obfuscate its fraud.”

Genting has called the allegation “baseless and without merit.”