Ottawa

U.S. casino sues Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk for more than $900K

A casino in Connecticut is suing Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk for more than $900,000, saying he tried and failed to pay them with bank drafts over a winter weekend in 2017.

Mohegan Sun alleges Melnyk gave 5 'dishonoured' bank drafts in one 2017 weekend

Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, shown in a file photo from March 2019, is being sued by a casino in Connecticut. (Jean Delisle/CBC)

A casino in Connecticut is suing Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk for more than $900,000, saying he tried and failed to pay them with bank drafts over a winter weekend in 2017.

The lawsuit was filed by the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Conn., roughly halfway between Boston and New York City, on July 9 of this year.

Court documents allege Melnyk tried to pay the casino with five bank drafts totalling $900,000 over the weekend of March 17, 2017, and those drafts were then "dishonoured" by a bank.

The casino management wants that money back, plus $15,000 in damages, costs and interest.

Melnyk's lawyer, Sheldon Plener, said in an email to CBC that he expects a "swift result" to what's a nearly two-and-a-half-year-old dispute, and wouldn't comment further.

None of the allegations has been proven in court.