The Daily Populous Sunday December 14th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by independent.co.uk and submitted by StemCellPirate

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Michael Duke Thomson’s last memory on January 23, 2024, was leaving the high-limit blackjack room at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas at around midnight with “a few thousand dollars” worth of chips.

His next memory was waking up the following morning, handcuffed to the wall of the casino security holding pen and $75,000 in debt to the house, with a felony fraud charge – later dismissed after Thomson made full restitution – yet to come.

Thomson, a licensed attorney, says he was a longtime Aria patron with a “pristine” repayment record, now believes he was surreptitiously drugged that night in Vegas, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday and obtained by The Independent. The 64-year-old’s apparent incapacitation “would have been obvious to anyone,” but that no one at the Aria bothered to intervene, Thomson’s complaint alleges.

It accuses Aria of having “failed to take any steps to ensure [Thomson’s] safety,” and instead “allowed him to continue gambling and then forcibly detained him without providing any care.”

“It is inequitable for Aria to retain [Thomson’s] funds that were procured and retained in the circumstances described above,” the complaint states.

open image in gallery Michael Duke Thomson claims Aria casino staff let him take out some $75,000 in markers after, he believes, he was 'deliberately, surreptitiously drugged.' ( Getty Images )

But Thomson, who now lives in a luxurious San Juan, Puerto Rico, condo, also contends Aria hasn’t provided sufficient answers about what happened to him that night in Vegas. Aside from the most basic outline of the apparent chain of events, Thomson’s complaint says that “[a]ll further information regarding [Thomson’s] condition and the circumstances of his detainment… are within Aria’s and MGM’s exclusive knowledge, custody, and control, and have not been provided.”

A spokesperson for MGM Resorts International, the Aria’s parent company and a co-defendant in Thomson’s suit, did not respond Friday to a request for comment.

Thomson, whose attorneys also did not respond to requests for comment, “has a long-standing history of patronage” at the Aria, according to his complaint. Additionally, it says, Thomson has “a long-standing, pristine history of honoring the credit instruments,” known as “markers,” that he has executed there.

“On the night of January 23, 2024, Plaintiff was playing blackjack in the high-limit room at the Casino,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff recalls taking out one marker that night for $10,000.00. He repaid the marker at the table on the same night of January 23, 2024.”

Thomson was staying at the Aria and recalls leaving the blackjack table at midnight or so, intending to head back to his room, the complaint continues.

The next thing Thomson knew, he was waking up in handcuffs.

“Plaintiff was told by Casino personnel that Casino security found him sleeping in the Sky Suites lounge, and when woken up by Casino security guards he allegedly lashed out at the security guards and was then detained,” the complaint adds, noting that Thomson was detained at roughly 11 a.m. on January 24, 2024.

Thomson was thrown off the property and told not to return or he would face arrest, according to the complaint. It says that no one said anything to Thomson at the time about any outstanding markers.

The next day, Thomson reached out to his VIP host at the Aria, to “inquire about what she might know” regarding his unfortunate experience, the complaint states. The host told Thomson that he did have eight outstanding markers with the casino, totaling $75,000, but that there “was a discrepancy” between the money he borrowed and his wins and losses.

Thomson said he was concerned about the marker balance, and asked for further details but got none, according to the complaint.

About three months later, Thomson’s bank called him to say that the Aria had submitted the $75,000 worth of markers for payment, the complaint says. However, it contends, that because Aria management “had yet to address [Thomson’s] concern regarding his alleged outstanding balance with Aria, [he] instructed his bank not to pay the ostensible markers until [Thomson] would conduct his own investigation, which he did by reaching out to Aria for more information, again.”

open image in gallery Thomson's last memory from his stay at the Aria was leaving the high-limit blackjack room at around midnight with ‘a few thousand dollars’ worth of chips, according to a federal lawsuit he filed Thursday. ( Getty Images )

While Thomson was still trying to get to the bottom of things, his bank returned the markers to the Aria, the complaint explains. The bank had marked five of them “Not Authorized,” and the remaining three were marked “NSF,” for “Non-Sufficient Funds,” the complaint states.

“Plaintiff has no memory of taking out the ostensible markers,” Thomson’s complaint maintains, adding that the markers were purportedly taken out between 3 a.m. and 9 a.m. on January 24, 2024. “The signatures on most of the ostensible markers appear to only loosely resemble Plaintiff’s signature… Plaintiff asked the Aria for additional information several other times to investigate the ostensible markers but was stonewalled by Aria.”

At this point, the Aria turned over the markers to the Clark County District Attorney’s Bad Check Unit, which charged Thomson in November 2024 with drawing and passing a check with intent to defraud, and theft of $25,000 or greater but less than $100,000.

Thomson was arrested, and bail was set at $10,000, according to a review of local court records from the criminal case. (Thomson’s civil complaint says he was in fact forced to pay $15,480 to be released from custody.) After months of negotiations and a trial date ultimately being set, Thomson agreed to pay off the Aria markers “to eliminate the stress of having an open, pending criminal case against him,” the complaint states.

The case was dismissed in mid-October, the local docket shows.

open image in gallery In addition to a mountain of debt, Thomson was hit felony charges after his fateful night at the Aria – none of which he remembers, according to a newly filed federal lawsuit. ( AFP via Getty Images )

Thomson, according to his complaint, thinks he was “deliberately[,] surreptitiously drugged on the night of January 23 or morning of January 24, 2024, which led to his complete incapacity.”

Aria “failed to act responsibly toward Plaintiff when it continued to allow Plaintiff to gamble, did not seek medical attention for Plaintiff, and had Plaintiff execute credit instruments,” according to the complaint, adding, “Plaintiff was unable to understand in a reasonable manner the nature and consequence of his actions and the transactions during this timeframe, as Aria knew or should have known.”

To that end, Thomson argues the markers are invalid and unenforceable and should be rescinded in light of the Aria’s “violat[ion] of its duties” to “effectuate responsible gaming.” Allowing Thomson to borrow so much money while unaware of his surroundings “all but ensur[ed] Aria’s opportunity to obtain additional monies from [him],” the complaint states.

“In the alternative, Aria accepted ostensible markers with forged signatures and did not verify that the ostensible markers were signed by Plaintiff,” it says.

Thomson’s lawsuit says Aria has been “unjustly enriched” through improper means, and accuses the casino-resort of malice for pressing criminal charges “despite [his] ongoing attempts to resolve the situation.”

He is demanding a jury trial, with damages to be determined in court. The Aria and MGM have not yet filed a response to Thomson’s allegations.

brycebgood on December 14th, 2025 at 17:27 UTC »

"The host told Thomson that he did have eight outstanding markers with the casino, totaling $75,000, but that there “was a discrepancy” between the money he borrowed and his wins and losses.The host told Thomson that he did have eight outstanding markers with the casino, totaling $75,000, but that there “was a discrepancy” between the money he borrowed and his wins and losses."

So someone drugged him, had him pull markers, and took the money. We all know this is on video - it's a casino. I bet he wins at trial or they just decide to walk away from the debt instead of handing over info.

zyzzogeton on December 14th, 2025 at 15:58 UTC »

Good luck getting info out of Paradise, the unincorporated territory that the Vegas strip is on. The rules there are different for a reason: to protect the casinos.

CutsAPromo on December 14th, 2025 at 12:32 UTC »

The way security guards in America can handcuff you 🤓