BigLaw Firm Seeks to Recover Stolen Client Money with Suit Against Casino
K&L Gates has filed another suit in an effort to recover stolen client funds, and this time the target is the owner of two Macau casinos.
The suit against Melco Crown Entertainment claims former K&L Gates partner Navin Kumar Aggarwal transferred more than $4 million from client accounts to fund his gambling habit, the Am Law Daily reports, citing a report in the South China Morning Post (sub. req.). The law firm says in a writ filed against Melco that it has paid $15 million to reimburse four clients for stolen escrow funds.
K&L Gates claims in a suit filed against Aggarwal last year that he stole about $2 million from a client escrow account for RIM China and transferred it to another company that also owns two Macau casinos.
Aggarwal, a former partner in the law firm’s Hong Kong office, has been charged with theft and forgery.
A Melco spokesperson tells the Macau Daily Times that the law firm’s allegations are unfounded and unproven.
