37-year-old Arelia Margarita Taveras, a former attorney and media commentator, has filed a $20 million racketeering suit against six Atlantic City casinos and one in Las Vegas.
Taveras, who lost her law practice, her apartment, her parents’ home and still owes the IRS $58,000, says the casino staff should have recognized that she had a gambling problem and cut her off. Going for days at a time without eating or sleeping, she claims, “They had a duty to care for me.”
A New Yorker, currently working in a call center in Minnesota, Taveras admits she used her clients’ escrow accounts to finance her gambling habit. She was disbarred and faces criminal charges. Her losses totaled nearly $1 million.
Her lawsuit names Resorts Atlantic City, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, the Tropicana Casino Resort, the Showboat Casino Hotel, Bally’s Atlantic City, as well as the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
The casinos deny any wrongdoing, saying Taveras caused her own problems. Joe Corbo, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey said casino workers receive training on spotting problem gamblers and referring them to help. “This can be a delicate situation, and it comes down to an individual’s personal responsibility.”