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A lawyer representing Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk on Monday filed “one or more defences” in the strange case involving gambling expenses incurred two years ago at the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority in Connecticut.

The casino filed a complaint last July claiming that Melnyk issued five bank drafts that were to cover $900,000 U.S. worth of debt. The gaming authority said these amounts were not honoured by the Toronto Dominion Bank and that Melnyk owes it another $179,800 in interest and other fees.

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Melnyk’s lawyer Jonathan Katz filed a disclosure of defence in the New London Superior Court, claiming there were at least three potential defences for his client, Melnyk. The first is that bank drafts were generated as indicated in March 2017 but, Katz alleges, the casino could have delayed presenting them for payment until September, which “caused the drafts to become stale.”

Photo by Tony Caldwell / Postmedia

The second potential defence, wrote Katz, concerned the “questionable appearance” of the signatures that appeared on the drafts. This, he added, would have given TD Bank a reasonable basis for believing the drafts might not be genuine. Katz noted that TD Bank was not under the control of Melnyk.