New York Tribe Says Harrahs Owes $3 Billion

In a legal dispute that has continued to develop since 2001, the St. Regis Mohawk tribe of New York State has filed paperwork with New York courts to force payment of a $3 Billion judgement that tribal courts are holding Harrahs Entertainment accountable for. Harrahs is the world's largest gambling company, and is currently in the midst of a $17.1 Billion buy out, but the New York Mohawk Tribe claims that $3 Billion of that money is theirs.

The legal battle between the St. Regis Mohawk tribe and Harrahs Entertainment dates back to the year 2000. According to legal complaints filed by the tribal nation, in 2000 they were "fraudulently induced" into a management deal to build a tribal casino in the Catskills. According to the complaint, the deal was forced onto the tribe by Park Place Entertainment, which was later purchased by Harrahs, and Clive Cummis, an attorney based in New Jersey.

The contract that the Mohawks claim was forced onto them put them in violation of other agreements that the tribe entered into with other companies in 1996 and 1999. When the deal ultimately fell apart, the tribe lost more than just revenue from the partnership with Park Place, but also lost revenue from the original casino partnerships that Park Place had forced out of the picture.

As a result of the bad dealings, a suit was filed against the Las Vegas based gambling company with the Mohawk Tribal Court. Park Place Entertainment, now owned by Harrahs, elected to ignore the proceedings, and a default judgement was entered against the gambling company for $1.8 Billion, plus interest. That was in 2001, and interest has been accruing on the judgement for more than half a decade, growing to be more than $1 Billion in interest alone.

"The billion-plus dollars in interest represent the cost to the defendants for ignoring the tribal court judgment for the last six years," said tribal trustee Dennis Vacco, former attorney general for New York.