Lawsuit claims Wynn Resorts accepted funds tied to alleged Ponzi scheme losses

A U.S. District Court judge has denied in part a motion by Wynn Resorts Ltd. to dismiss a two-year-old lawsuit filed by the president of a Canadian mining company.

U.S. District Judge Anne Traum earlier this month issued an order granting in part and denying in part a case dismissal sought by Wynn involving the alleged failure of the company to investigate the source of funds gambled and lost by a California man.

Traum dismissed claims of negligence and unjust enrichment but allowed a claim of the plaintiff’s receipt of stolen funds.

Wynn on Friday declined a request for comment.

Toronto, Ontario-based James Bay Resources Ltd., a lithium mining company, and its president, Stephen Shefsky, alleged in the lawsuit filed in October 2024 that while on probation, between January 2018 and June 2019, former UCLA decathlete David Bunevacz, who once competed for the Philippines national team, lost an estimated $3.8 million at Wynn Las Vegas and that some of those funds came from Shefsky and his company.

According to the lawsuit, Shefsky made two personal loans totaling $1.1 million and James Bay loaned $3.5 million to CB Holdings Group Corp. and Brutus California Ventures Corp., controlled by Bunevacz, of California, and his daughter, Californian Mary Hayca Bunevacz.

David Bunevacz was accused of being involved in a Ponzi scheme and as he sought investors to market cannabis vape pens in legal marijuana markets.

Wynn is accused of failing to report huge gambling losses to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which tracks money laundering.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.