Former Crown Resorts mogul James Packer is facing legal action from a security guard who alleges he was assaulted by the billionaire in 2016. Dr. Iskandar Chaban claims that Packer and Crown Resorts have not paid the legal fees from a settlement agreement reached last year, just before the assault case was set to go to trial. Chaban had sued Packer in 2020, alleging verbal abuse, physical assault, and threats of termination after he failed to recognize Packer at Crown Melbourne.
The settlement agreement, reached for $100,000 plus legal costs, was based on a “no admissions basis.” Chaban asserts that he has incurred $185,000 in lawyers’ fees and an additional $77,000 in costs related to the lawsuit, and none of these have been paid by Packer or Crown Resorts.
Packer, who sold his majority stake in Crown Resorts to Blackstone in 2022 for $3.3 billion, had encountered Chaban at Crown Melbourne on New Year’s Day in 2016. At the time, Packer was dating singer Mariah Carey and had attended her New Year’s Eve performance at the casino. Chaban prevented Packer from entering the premises, believing him to be intoxicated, which allegedly led to a confrontation and the subsequent assault.
Chaban claims that following the altercation, he was abused, humiliated, and bullied by casino managers, leading to neck and back injuries and a subsequent diagnosis of PTSD. The Victorian Supreme Court has ordered both parties to attend mediation, with Crown Resorts denying any breach of the terms of the settlement agreement.
Packer, who has not held an executive role at Crown Resorts since 2018, is now facing legal repercussions from the unresolved legal fees related to the settlement. The lawsuit, which initially stemmed from an altercation six years ago, has put the spotlight once again on the billionaire’s behavior and his interactions with casino staff.
