{"id":105364,"date":"2019-05-20T07:14:33","date_gmt":"2019-05-20T14:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=105364"},"modified":"2019-05-20T08:56:18","modified_gmt":"2019-05-20T15:56:18","slug":"lucky-dragon-casino-investors-sue-developers-for-refund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucky-dragon-casino-investors-sue-developers-for-refund\/","title":{"rendered":"Investors in Former Lucky Dragon Casino Sue Developers for Refund After Dreams of US Citizenship Go Up in Smoke"},"content":{"rendered":"

Around 40 Chinese investors<\/a> who plowed $550,000 each into the failed Lucky Dragon casino in Las Vegas are suing the developers, claiming they were \u201cfraudulently induced\u201d into helping finance the project, the Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/em> reports.<\/p>\n

\"Lucky
The Lucky Dragon was one of the shortest-lived Las Vegas casino ventures of all time. Its developers are currently fielding lawsuits from investors, the principle lender, and a Chinese-Canadian high-roller who paid a deposit to lease the casino a month before it went under. (Image: Lucky Dragon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The investors believed their funds would result in green cards for themselves and their families under the federal government\u2019s EB-5 program, but the casino closed down last year before it was seized through foreclosure by its principle creditor, Snow Covered Capital, and sold at auction<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n

Snow took all the proceeds of the $36 million sale, which was a fraction of the $160 million Lucky Dragon cost to build, and not enough to cover the $45 million still owed to the investment company.<\/p>\n

The property was purchased by Las Vegas businessman Don Ahern, who plans to convert it into a non-gaming hotel.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the EB-5 investors believe they are entitled to a refund.<\/p>\n

What is EB-5?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Under the program, foreign investors can apply for a conditional green card which can become lawful, permanent residency after two years if they demonstrate that their investment has created at least ten full-time jobs.<\/p>\n

Lucky Dragon opened in December 2016 with an initial workforce of 800, but closed down just over a year later, in January 2018.<\/p>\n

\n

The \u201cboutique\u201d casino was the first venture to be built in Las Vegas from the ground up since the recession and must go down as one of the shortest-lived in the history of Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Asian-themed operation had hoped to capture the Asian locals and high-roller markets but was badly situated — tucked away on W. Sahara Ave.<\/p>\n

Financially strained from the get-go, Lucky Dragon was unable to offer the kind of comps required to capture those markets. For the first and only year of its operation, it generated around 20 percent of targeted revenues.<\/p>\n

Mysterious High-Roller Lawsuit<\/strong><\/h2>\n

LVRJ<\/em> reports that developers, who include ASF Realty & Investments founder Andrew Fonfa, are also being sued by a British Columbia-based casino investor and high-rolling gambler, Jason Chen, who paid a $400,000 deposit to lease the casino, a month before it went under.<\/p>\n

Chen\u2019s lawsuit, which names Fonfa, the project\u2019s former CFO, and general manager, describes \u201ccoordinated efforts\u201d to obtain money through \u201cdeceit and misrepresentation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chen\u2019s lawyer, Chaz Rainey, told LVRJ<\/em> that his client was not told Lucky Dragon was a \u201cfailing business\u201d at that time.<\/p>\n

Developers are also facing a lawsuit from Snow Covered Capital, which is suing in an attempt to claw back what remains unpaid following the sale of the property.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Around 40 Chinese investors who plowed $550,000 each into the failed Lucky Dragon casino in Las Vegas are suing the developers, claiming they were \u201cfraudulently induced\u201d into helping finance the project, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. The investors believed their funds would result in green cards for themselves and their families under the federal government\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":105366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,60,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLucky Dragon Casino Investors Sue Developers for Refund<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lucky Dragon Las Vegas developers are fielding lawsuits from EB-5 investors, Snow Covered Capital and a mysterious high-roller called Jason Chen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucky-dragon-casino-investors-sue-developers-for-refund\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lucky Dragon Casino Investors Sue Developers for Refund\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lucky Dragon Las Vegas developers are fielding lawsuits from EB-5 investors, Snow Covered Capital and a mysterious high-roller called Jason Chen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucky-dragon-casino-investors-sue-developers-for-refund\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-20T14:14:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-05-20T15:56:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/lucky-dragon.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1050\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucky-dragon-casino-investors-sue-developers-for-refund\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucky-dragon-casino-investors-sue-developers-for-refund\/\",\"name\":\"Lucky Dragon Casino Investors Sue Developers for Refund\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucky-dragon-casino-investors-sue-developers-for-refund\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucky-dragon-casino-investors-sue-developers-for-refund\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/lucky-dragon.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-20T14:14:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-20T15:56:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Lucky Dragon Las Vegas developers are fielding lawsuits from EB-5 investors, Snow Covered Capital and a mysterious high-roller called Jason Chen\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucky-dragon-casino-investors-sue-developers-for-refund\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucky-dragon-casino-investors-sue-developers-for-refund\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lucky-dragon-casino-investors-sue-developers-for-refund\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/lucky-dragon.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/lucky-dragon.jpg\",\"width\":1050,\"height\":700,\"caption\":\"The Lucky Dragon was one of the shortest-lived Las Vegas casino ventures of all time. 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