Support decision delayed

A Family Court hearing master said he needs more information before deciding whether a Moulin Rouge executive owes his ex-wife thousands of dollars in child support.

Sonja Mack of San Diego filed a complaint in March that claimed her ex-husband, Chauncey Moore, owed her more than $49,000 in child support and interest. In the document, filed in Clark County, she asked that Moore's income be withheld to pay the obligation.

At an evidentiary hearing earlier this month, Mack's attorney said a May audit from the San Diego County Department of Child Support Services shows that Moore owes about $40,000. Moore, chief operating officer of the Moulin Rouge Development Corp., claims he has paid Mack all the money he owed her.

Alternate Hearing Master Tom Kurtz said the audit seems to contradict earlier documents in the California case. Kurtz said he wants to enforce the California order but needs clarification before ruling.

"Quite frankly, I am at best confused by what they've done in California," Kurtz said.

Kurtz said he believes Moore's attorney, Paul Gaudet, who argued that the audit is inaccurate. But the hearing master said he had not received the entire court file from California, and neither of the Las Vegas lawyers had traveled to California to review the file.

The hearing master scheduled a status hearing for Aug. 7 and asked Moore to seek clarification from the California court before then.

Mack, 40, said earlier this year that she sought the help of National Child Support, a private collection company based in Ohio, after officials in San Diego County didn't force Moore to pay his obligation.

Her complaint claimed Moore, 41, is required to pay $560 a month to support the two sons he had with her. The boys are now 16 and 17.

Moore, who attended the hearing this month, said his younger son has lived at his Las Vegas home since September.

Mack, who is represented by attorney Peter Dubowsky, did not attend the hearing.

In January 2004, Moore stood with other businessmen outside the Moulin Rouge on Bonanza Road as they announced their plans to buy the historic hotel and casino property for $12.1 million. The casino was gutted by an arson fire in 2003 and remains closed.

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