Fontainebleau developer facing another lawsuit

Another lawsuit has been filed in the continuing saga of the financially troubled Fontainebleau project, this time against the developer.

CCCS International, a South Carolina-based construction consulting firm, said its contract was terminated "for no justifiable basis" and the firm is owed more than $1 million, according to a breach of contract lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Las Vegas.

The firm was hired last fall to "perform various construction management and auditing services" for the $3.1 billion project, including identifying overpayments. CCCS International was fired in March.

In the lawsuit, CCCS blames Fontainebleau for failing "to adequately design, supervise, coordinate, plan and schedule all the work at the project, which resulted in significant delays, disruptions, alterations and hardship on many of the subcontractors, consultants and employees" including CCCS.

CCCS was hired to "recover prior unnecessary overpayments" projected to be $130 million. The firm was to collect 2 percent of any overpayments or scheduled overpayments it discovered, as well as monthly fees.

The firm claims it was terminated after discovering "over $40 million in overpayments" stemming from "Fontainebleau's fraudulent billing practices and inappropriate payment methods," the lawsuit said.

A call to the CCCS corporate office in Summerville, S.C., was not returned.

Dave Satterfield, a spokesman for Fontainebleau, said the lawsuit is a "brazen attempt to collect an unwarranted payment" from the project's developer after being fired for failing to perform its job duties.

"We believe CCCS' allegations of wrongdoing are unfounded," Satterfield said. "Fontainebleau always strives to run its business responsibly. We have been conducting a review of the allegations by CCCS just as we do when anyone makes an allegation of wrongdoing."

CCCS claims the project developer told the firm last summer that Fontainebleau was over its budget. However, "Fontainebleau failed to disclose" the project "did not have adequate financing" to meet the terms of the firm's contract.

The lawsuit was filed a day after the developer's attorneys amended its $3 billion lawsuit against a group of banks withholding $770 million in funding for allegedly defaulting on some of its loans.

The amended lawsuit accused Deutsche Bank, which controls $80 million of the $770 million disputed loan, of a conflict of interest because of the bank's ownership of the $3.9 billion Cosmopolitan project a half-mile south on Las Vegas Boulevard.

Deutsche Bank spokesman John Gallagher said Wednesday the claim is an attempt by the developers "to distract from the fact that they have breached their loan covenants," and the bank will "defend ourselves vigorously against this meritless allegation."

Contact reporter Arnold M. Knightly at aknightly@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.