30K charged to AmEx by Vegas SC
Friday, August 7, 2009 9:14 PM
From the local paper -- this is classic:
ANDOVER, Mass. — An Andover executive said he has no recollection of racking up almost $30,000 in credit card charges for alcohol and lap dances at a swanky Las Vegas strip club.
James Hackett filed a lawsuit in Las Vegas July 24 disputing the charges.
Hackett, of Blueberry Circle, was in Las Vegas last October for a Direct Marketing Association trade show. He is the owner of the direct marketing firm Indivia.
He said his first night on The Strip he watched a Red Sox game in his hotel bar and had a few vodka martinis before "blacking out" on the way back to his room, according to his lawsuit.
His credit card was used between 2:55 and 8:54 a.m. that morning on $4,000 worth of alcohol and more than $25,000 in services from "Paulina," "Jani Lee," "Isabel," "Vanessa," "Roxanne" and "Lexi" — strippers at the Club Paradise gentlemen's club.
Hackett's lawsuit against Club Paradise and American Express Co. disputes the $29,512 billed to his card in the early morning hours of Oct. 12.
He confirmed he filed the lawsuit when reached at his home yesterday. "I'd love to comment, but it's in litigation," Hackett said. "I'm confident the courts will get at the truth."
According to his lawsuit, Hackett arrived in Las Vegas around 7:40 p.m. on Oct. 11 and hailed a taxi to the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel, where he was staying.
When he got to his room, he found his television wasn't working, but he wanted to watch the end of the Boston Red Sox-Tampa Bay Rays championship series game, so he headed to the hotel bar. Hackett also is the former president of the BoSox Club, the official booster club of the Boston Red Sox.
While watching the game, Hackett said a man sat down next to him and handed him his wallet, saying, "You dropped this."
Upon inspection, he noticed his American Express Card and driver's license had been swapped from their usual positions. But there was nothing missing so he wasn't concerned.
He was in the bar for an hour or so, drinking vodka martinis and watching the game go into extra innings.
After leaving the bar, Hackett said he walked toward the lobby intending to return to his room.
"(Hackett) became light headed and slightly dizzy, sat on a bench somewhere in the lobby area and recalls someone pulling his right arm and hand, and then seemed to 'black out' having no recollection of anything else until he awoke late the next morning in his room," according to the lawsuit.
When Hackett woke up, he called his wife and told her what he could recall about that night and relayed the wallet incident, asking her to check the charges on his American Express Card.
His wife called the credit card company and put them on alert of charges that might have been made on the card. Hackett said he alerted security at the hotel, asking them to keep any video footage of the bar and lobby.
Hackett returned to Andover on Oct. 14, three days later.
The next day, he reviewed his credit card charges online and saw a $30,000 charge toward CP Food & Beverage, the parent company of Club Paradise, made in the morning hours of Oct. 12.
Club Paradise is about two miles down the road from the hotel where Hackett stayed.
According to the lawsuit, an American Express representative called him, saying the company paid out the $29,512 after speaking with Club Paradise.
Hackett said he cannot remember being in Club Paradise, receiving any services there, or signing any slips or credit card charges.
He filed a police report in Andover on Oct. 25, and later in Las Vegas by telephone.
Club Paradise supplied invoices that allegedly show documents and credit card slips signed by Hackett authorizing a series of charges totaling $29,512 between 2:55 and 8:54 a.m., according to the lawsuit.
Hackett argues that other than the slips, the club has not provided any other explanation for such pricey charges over a six-hour period.
"Such charges are astounding and cannot be supported as reasonable, including charges for entertainment totaling over $25,000 and charges for alcohol of $4,000, the value and quantity of which would have rendered any person so intoxicated as to have no capacity to knowingly consent to any services or charges," the lawsuit alleges.
Hackett's attorney, Larry Johns of Las Vegas, did not return calls for comment yesterday.
Paradise Club general manager Adam Gentile did not return a call for comment yesterday. According to its Web site, Club Paradise — which is across from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino — is visited by celebrities and Fortune 500 executives. The club made national headlines last October when it held a Sarah Palin look-alike stripping contest.
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