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With Gambling911.com breaking the news earlier Monday that attorney Joseph Bainton had filed a $10 million lawsuit against American Pharoah owner Ahmed Zayat, the New York Times was quick to react and file a report late Monday evening. The Times report is almost certain to cast a very dark shadow over the upcoming Belmont Stakes race.
In the complaint, Bainton references articles in The Daily News, The Associated Press and outlets as far away as The Daily Mail in London, claiming that Zayat had lied about the motives behind a suit he filed on behalf of his client Howard Rubinsky. Mr. Rubinsky is suing Zayat for close to $2 million seeking payment of debts owed to offshore gambling sites he represented including Tradewinds, one of the oldest offshore sportsbooks.
“It’s a fraud,” Zayat told The Associated Press. “It’s a scam from A to Z. It’s total fiction. It’s a total lie.”
The suit further alleges that Zayat hints at an extortion plot. Bainton calls that irresponsible and dangerous, something that could have the attorney disbarred if he were found to be involved in such a plot.
The New York Observer.com article from May 23 in which Gambling911.com founder Chris Costigan is quoted is also referenced in the suit.
Zayat insists that the Plaintiff in the original suit, Mr. Rubinsky, is attempting to capitalize off of American Pharoah’s success at both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Presumably, the assertion is that Rubinsky’s attorney is also in on the alleged scheme.
“The blatant and knowing lie was made to lend credence to his knowingly false claim that the Breach of Contract Action was a fraud and a product of insanity,” the complaint said.
Judge William Martini is expected to rule on a request by Zayat’s lawyers to dismiss Rubinsky’s lawsuit in the coming weeks.
“I don’t like being called a liar,” Bainton said Monday in a phone interview with the New York Times. “I have earned a very good reputation as a lawyer. I don’t cotton to being called a criminal. I think it’s finally time for Zayat to be held in account for his conduct.”
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
