Judge Lets Wynn Lawsuit Over Alleged Fraud Funds Move Forward in Part

Wynn Resorts will keep facing part of a lawsuit from Toronto-based James Bay Resources Ltd. and its president, Stephen Shefsky, over claims that gambling losses at Wynn Las Vegas included money tied to an investment fraud scheme. For high-risk operators, the useful part here is not the headline-grabbing fraud allegation, but the compliance angle: the court left standing a claim that Wynn received stolen funds, while tossing negligence and unjust enrichment.

1. US District Judge Anne Traum granted part of Wynn’s request to dismiss the case, but she did not throw it out in full. The lawsuit can continue on the claim related to the alleged receipt of stolen funds.
2. The plaintiffs say Shefsky personally loaned approximately $1.1 million and James Bay Resources loaned an additional $3.5 million to companies controlled by David Bunevacz and his daughter, Mary Hayca Bunevacz. Those loans were made between 2018 and 2019.
3. According to the complaint, some of that money ended up at Wynn Las Vegas, where Bunevacz reportedly lost an estimated $3.8 million gambling.
4. The lawsuit says Wynn should have done more to investigate the source of the gambling funds and should have reported suspicious activity to federal authorities, specifically FinCEN, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which monitors and combats money laundering and other financial crimes in the United States.
5. The underlying fraud narrative matters because Bunevacz, a former UCLA decathlete who also competed internationally for the Philippines, was later accused by federal prosecutors of running a Ponzi-style scheme while seeking investors for a cannabis vaping business, and he was eventually convicted.

The court’s decision does not decide whether Wynn is liable. It just keeps one key claim alive, which means both sides now get to present evidence on whether the casino operator handled the source of funds the way it should have.