Gambling Philanthropist Loses More Than $200 Million
Gambling losses are a drag. They're a drag when you lose $500 at a Vegas bachelor party or $30 at the Atlantic City Tropicana playing limit poker.
They're really horrendous when you lose $204 million. Then throw into the mix that you're a philanthropist. And that the company to which you owe the bulk of your debt is pursuing criminal charges against you for the final $14.75 million they say you owe.
AOL News has the story of Terrance Watanabe. He ran a successful family business that made him rich. He has gambling losses that are so large they're difficult to comprehend by mere mortals. And that $204 million? He lost that in one year.
Watanabe says he's not paying the $14.75 million because he made an agreement with Harrah's to forgive some of the losses. (He's already paid back at least $112 million.)
He also says Harrah's casinos plied him with booze. According to a story last year in the Wall Street Journal, Watanabe says Harrah's casinos didn't make him leave when he was drunk.
The real question is: What's a philanthropist doing gambling with the rest of the whales in Las Vegas? Watanabe is an Omaha, Neb., native who, by many accounts, had a good head for business and was a big reason for the success of the Oriental Trading Company, the company his father founded. Watanabe took over the company when he was 20 and sold it in 2000.
Watanabe has a trial date for July 12. He faces four felony charges for allegedly passing bad checks when "markers he had signed were returned by his bank because of insufficient funds," according to AOL News.
Read the full story about the philanthropist's gambling debts here.