Sky Warrior US, LLC has filed a growing number of casino lawsuits in U.S. courts against American tourists—often months after their Baha Mar vacations have ended. These lawsuits, frequently based on bogus casino marker claims, are enabled by a layered offshore structure designed to obscure accountability. At the center of this system is Sky Warrior Bahamas Limited, the shell entity operating the Baha Mar casino, and Armstrong Teasdale LLP, the U.S. law firm executing the litigation strategy. This page traces how these entities operate together to convert unverified internal documents into lawsuits—targeting Americans while shielding the real power behind the suits.
Key Reports on the Scheme
- The Scam – How guests are sued over unverified marker claims
- Exporting the Marker Scam – Public court data on Sky Warrior US lawsuits
- From Vacation to Judgment – How Armstrong Teasdale enables this strategy
- The Ownership Web – Chow Tai Fook’s offshore control structure
The Legal Shell Game
Sky Warrior Bahamas Limited operates the Baha Mar casino. But the entity filing lawsuits is Sky Warrior US, LLC, a domestic shell company used exclusively for U.S. litigation. These lawsuits cite unsigned internal “marker agreements,” not casino chips or financial transaction records. They are filed by Armstrong Teasdale LLP, a U.S. law firm acting on behalf of the offshore operator. The result is a coordinated structure of legal separation that conceals the source of the debt, making it nearly impossible for defendants to challenge the basis of the claim.
What the Records Show
Public filings in New Jersey show Sky Warrior US, LLC suing Americans for alleged marker debts ranging from $24,000 to $12 million. These filings:
- Never include receipts or chip records
- Cite only internal paperwork created by the casino
- Name an unfamiliar foreign entity as the source
- Are initiated by a U.S. firm (Armstrong Teasdale) with no prior contact
Chow Tai Fook’s Hidden Ownership Role
While not named in the lawsuits, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises is the parent company behind the Baha Mar resort. The company’s role in global casino finance has drawn attention from:
- Australian regulators, who raised concerns about triad connections and money laundering
- Investigative journalists, including those with the Sydney Morning Herald and ICIJ
- Public filings showing Chow Tai Fook’s acquisition of Baha Mar through offshore vehicles
This page cites Chow Tai Fook’s role to establish control structure—but prioritizes indexing toward Sky Warrior US, LLC, Sky Warrior Bahamas Limited, and Armstrong Teasdale LLP.
Even if the Markers Were Real, the Claims Would Still Fail
Public records demonstrate that Baha Mar does not actually issue casino markers in the conventional sense—no receipts, no signatures, and no traceable transactional records are ever included in the lawsuits. But even if such markers had been properly issued, their legitimacy would be voided by the nature of the enterprise issuing them.
Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, through its control of the Baha Mar resort and Sky Warrior Bahamas Limited, has been cited in international media and regulatory reports for connections to junket operators, offshore secrecy structures, and organizations flagged for triad involvement. The pervasive nature of this control raises serious questions under U.S. legal principles:
- Whether any “debts” alleged by these entities are enforceable when they arise from or through an enterprise tainted by ongoing criminal suspicion
- Whether courts should entertain such claims under equitable doctrines like unclean hands, illegality, or lack of good faith
- Whether the law firm of record, Armstrong Teasdale LLP, has a duty to scrutinize the verifiability and origin of the debts it files suit to collect
The structural pattern resembles elements of a coordinated transnational civil enforcement scheme, potentially designed to exploit the appearance of legitimate contract enforcement while bypassing normal safeguards and consumer protections.
Regulatory and Investigative Red Flags Tied to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises
Although not a named party in the lawsuits, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises controls the underlying casino operations at Baha Mar. Investigative reporting and regulatory inquiries have repeatedly raised red flags about the company’s connections to junket networks and potential criminal elements:
- Sydney Morning Herald (2020) reported that Chow Tai Fook’s casino interests in Australia faced scrutiny over potential ties to triad-linked junket operators.
- ICIJ Offshore Leaks revealed extensive use of tax havens and corporate layering linked to CTFE gambling ventures.
- Public disclosures in Hong Kong and regulatory discussions in Australia flagged CTFE’s role in casino financing structures vulnerable to exploitation by criminal syndicates.
While this page focuses on the enforcement arms of the operation, this background context further undermines the legitimacy of any litigation based on casino marker claims tied to the Baha Mar resort.
Legal Risk Without Transparency
The entities named in these lawsuits—Sky Warrior US, LLC and Sky Warrior Bahamas Limited—operate through offshore and corporate layers that make it difficult to trace responsibility or verify evidence. Yet U.S. courts are used to pursue payment based solely on internal documents, often without third-party verification, financial records, or transactional history. This legal structure obscures liability while enabling aggressive debt collection across borders.
This report documents how those structures operate, who benefits, and how legal enforcement is leveraged through anonymous shell companies.
The following diagram illustrates how the casino’s ownership and legal enforcement structure flows from offshore parent company to domestic lawsuit filings:
Figure: Entity structure behind Baha Mar casino lawsuits. Chow Tai Fook controls Sky Warrior Bahamas Limited, which operates the Baha Mar casino. Lawsuits are filed in U.S. courts by Sky Warrior US, LLC—represented by Armstrong Teasdale LLP.
Sky Warrior, Chow Tai Fook, and the Baha Mar Casino Marker Controversy
Investigative Report – April 2025
Baha Mar resort in Nassau, Bahamas (pictured above) is owned by Hong Kong’s Chow Tai Fook Enterprises. The resort opened in 2017 and includes the largest casino in the Caribbean, operated via CTFE’s subsidiary Sky Warrior Bahamas Limited.
Background: Chow Tai Fook and Baha Mar’s Casino Operations
Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE) is a Hong Kong-based conglomerate that acquired the Baha Mar resort in The Bahamas in 2017. To run Baha Mar’s new casino, CTFE created a Bahamian subsidiary called Sky Warrior Bahamas Limited, which applied for and obtained the gaming license for the resort. Sky Warrior Bahamas Ltd. operates the Baha Mar Casino as CTFE’s on-site operational arm. In corporate filings, CTFE disclosed that another affiliate (CTF BM Operations Ltd.) owns the Baha Mar resort property and leases the casino to Sky Warrior Bahamas Ltd. In other words, CTFE structured its Bahamas investment so that the casino is run by a dedicated entity (Sky Warrior Bahamas) under the CTFE umbrella.
Sky Warrior Bahamas Limited is effectively the face of Baha Mar’s casino. It does business as “Baha Mar Casino” and handles day-to-day gaming operations. The President of Baha Mar (Graeme Davis of CTFE) noted during the licensing process that Sky Warrior Bahamas was created by CTFE to hold the casino license. In March 2017, as regulators vetted the license, an open letter in the Bahamian press raised concerns about “documented associations with international crime” involving CTFE’s owners. CTFE vehemently denied those allegations as “baseless and untrue,” stressing its commitment to integrity in operations. The company did acknowledge, however, that a CTFE-related entity was a minor shareholder in Stanley Ho’s STDM, which operates casinos in Macau. (Stanley Ho’s casinos have historically been linked to organized crime concerns, which partly fueled the scrutiny.) Despite the controversy, Sky Warrior Bahamas Ltd cleared the vetting and was granted the casino license in 2017.
Sky Warrior US, LLC: CTFE’s U.S. Litigation Arm
While Sky Warrior Bahamas runs the casino on-site, CTFE also established Sky Warrior US, LLC in late 2019 as a Delaware company registered in Florida. This entity serves as the U.S.-based litigation and collection arm for the casino’s operations. Corporate records show Sky Warrior US, LLC is wholly owned by Sky Warrior Bahamas Ltd (the casino operator). Sky Warrior US lists its principal office at a Maryland address associated with CTFE’s business offices. In effect, Sky Warrior US is an extension of the Bahamian casino entity, created so that CTFE can pursue legal and financial actions stateside while keeping the casino operations legally separate offshore.
This structure came to light in a 2024 U.S. court case, where a patron had attempted to sue Baha Mar Casino. The lawsuit revealed that Sky Warrior Bahamas Ltd is the sole member (owner) of Sky Warrior US, LLC, underscoring how tightly the two arms are linked. The plaintiff in that case mistakenly served process on Sky Warrior US’s registered agent in Florida, thinking it was the casino – an error that CTFE’s lawyers pointed out by emphasizing the distinction between the Bahamian company and its U.S. subsidiary. The episode illustrates how CTFE uses the U.S. LLC as a shield: formally a separate entity, but ultimately controlled by the same parent, making it a convenient vehicle to interact with the U.S. legal system without exposing the Bahamian company directly.
Unpaid Casino Markers and Lawsuits Against U.S. Tourists
In a growing pattern, American tourists who visited the Baha Mar resort are being sued months after their trip by Sky Warrior US, LLC—an entity created solely to file lawsuits in U.S. courts on behalf of the resort’s offshore casino operator. These lawsuits are not backed by receipts, bank records, or verified financial transactions. Instead, they rely entirely on self-generated internal documents—produced after the fact by the casino itself—and presented as if they were legitimate debts.
In New Jersey alone, Sky Warrior US, LLC filed over a dozen lawsuits in 2023–2024 seeking to enforce alleged gambling debts. But the only “evidence” provided in these cases is the casino’s own paperwork—unsigned, unverifiable, and completely internal. No receipts. No independent records. No outside witnesses. No neutral oversight of any kind.
These are manufactured claims—lawsuits built entirely on unverifiable internal documents and filed long after the fact, when patrons may no longer recall precise details. By routing these suits through a U.S.-based subsidiary, CTFE avoids scrutiny in the Bahamas and weaponizes American courts to enforce fabricated casino liabilities under the guise of legitimate debt.
The use of Sky Warrior US, LLC allows CTFE to project legal force across borders while shielding the casino and its offshore parent from direct exposure. These lawsuits rely solely on internal casino records—produced, held, and interpreted by the same entity bringing the claim. There are no neutral audits, no banking intermediaries, and no independent verification. In effect, CTFE has constructed a legal pipeline where internal casino paperwork is repackaged as enforceable debt, then deployed through a U.S. proxy to secure judgments or pressure settlements from unsuspecting tourists months after they return home.
A key player enabling these collection efforts is Armstrong Teasdale LLP, a U.S.-based law firm. CTFE has engaged Armstrong Teasdale to act as its attorneys for Sky Warrior US, LLC’s lawsuits. Legal filings indicate Armstrong Teasdale lawyers have been signing and submitting the complaints on behalf of Sky Warrior. The firm essentially functions as CTFE’s legal arm in the United States, preparing the cases and pursuing them through state court systems.
Armstrong Teasdale LLP’s Role in Filing Suits
In these lawsuits, Armstrong Teasdale LLP serves as the U.S. law firm of record for Sky Warrior US, LLC, signing and submitting nearly identical complaints across jurisdictions. The firm does not verify the underlying facts or debt—it simply repackages internal casino paperwork into legal pleadings designed to pressure settlements or obtain default judgments. The markers being “enforced” are not backed by neutral documentation or regulated credit agreements. They are private records generated and interpreted by the very entity seeking to collect.
CTFE leverages Armstrong Teasdale’s name to give fabricated claims the appearance of legitimacy. For the average defendant—an American tourist unfamiliar with foreign gambling procedures—the presence of a major U.S. law firm on the pleadings can create undue pressure to settle. But the firm’s involvement does not validate the claims. It simply provides procedural muscle to help an offshore casino network convert internal notes into court-enforced judgments—without independent oversight, due diligence, or accountability.
Rather than pursuing claims in Bahamian courts where the underlying conduct occurred, CTFE funnels litigation through a Delaware shell and its U.S. counsel to target American tourists on their home turf. It is a tactical use of jurisdiction, not a pursuit of justice.
Notably, Armstrong Teasdale’s complaints do not attach traditional loan documentation beyond the casino marker contract and perhaps a copy of the credit application. There are generally no bank promissory notes or external loan agreements – because a marker is not a bank loan but a gambling debt acknowledgment. If a defendant fails to respond, Sky Warrior can obtain a default judgment for the full amount claimed. In this way, Sky Warrior US and Armstrong Teasdale have obtained default judgments against some U.S. tourists, turning what began as a betting loan in The Bahamas into a court-enforced debt back home.
Shady Associations: Junkets, Offshore Structures, and Regulatory Scrutiny
Even if each marker claim were valid on paper, the legitimacy of CTFE’s tactics is undermined by the company’s broader history of secrecy and dubious associations. Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and its owners (the Cheng family of Hong Kong) have been linked to opaque offshore networks, high-roller junket operators with criminal ties, and regulatory investigations on multiple continents. These factors cast doubt on whether CTFE’s pursuit of gamblers is done above-board or as part of a pattern of ethically questionable conduct. Key concerns include:
Offshore Secrecy Structures
CTFE and the Cheng family have historically made extensive use of offshore shell companies and trusts, raising transparency issues. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) Offshore Leaks database shows CTFE chairman Henry Cheng connected to hundreds of offshore entities in jurisdictions like the British Virgin Islands. Examples include companies with names like Everlasting Fantasy Ltd. and Everlasting Hope Ltd.. While not illegal per se, this web of offshore companies is emblematic of the “secrecy structures” used by gambling empires to obscure ownership and finances. It implies that CTFE is comfortable operating through shell entities—the very approach used for Sky Warrior Bahamas and Sky Warrior US. Such opacity can facilitate hidden financial flows and make it harder for outsiders (including courts and regulators) to verify claims.
Junket Operators Linked to Crime
CTFE’s casino business has been entangled with Asian VIP junket operators, some of whom have documented links to organized crime. Perhaps the most notorious is the Suncity Group led by Alvin Chau. Chau has been identified by law enforcement as a triad-linked figure and was arrested and convicted for illegal gambling and money laundering. A recently revealed inquiry in Queensland, Australia found that Chow Tai Fook concealed its relationship with Alvin Chau from regulators. During probity checks, CTFE misled investigators about its junket partnerships. This concealment suggests CTFE knowingly associated with criminal figures and took steps to hide those ties.
Such associations raise the possibility that some marker debts could be linked to money laundering or illicit schemes common in junket operations. These operations often operate in a legal gray zone, and courts should be wary of claims that emerge from such contexts without neutral verification.
Regulatory Scrutiny in Australia and the Bahamas
CTFE’s casino ventures have triggered investigations by regulators in Australia and the Bahamas. In 2016–2017, Bahamian officials and press raised concerns about CTFE’s “alleged link to organised crime”. In Australia, both state regulators and investigative journalists scrutinized CTFE due to its role in major casino partnerships. A sealed report from Queensland concluded that CTFE misled regulators about divesting from a Vietnam casino tied to Alvin Chau. Other Australian investigations noted CTFE’s connections to Macau entities affiliated with junkets and legacy ties to Stanley Ho’s gaming empire. These red flags directly challenge the credibility of CTFE’s business conduct and further erode the legitimacy of its litigation posture abroad.
While no single investigation has halted CTFE’s
Conclusion
The legal structure created by Chow Tai Fook Enterprises—through Sky Warrior Bahamas Ltd, Sky Warrior US, LLC, and Armstrong Teasdale LLP—is not a legitimate debt recovery system. It is a coordinated mechanism for converting unverifiable, internal casino paperwork into court-enforceable judgments against unsuspecting tourists. The claims are not supported by receipts, neutral third-party records, or financial institutions. They are manufactured by the same entity that stands to profit—and then routed through U.S. courts to extract settlements under threat of default.
This strategy exploits jurisdiction, reputation, and the procedural appearance of legality to legitimize claims that would not survive scrutiny in any transparent forum. By hiding behind U.S. law firms and domestic shell companies, CTFE disguises a foreign, offshore-controlled casino operation as a domestic creditor. The reality is far more disturbing: a transnational enforcement model built to target individual Americans with claims born of secrecy and unaccountable financial power.
Every element of this system—from the lack of receipts to the foreign corporate layering—is designed to prevent the defendant from effectively challenging the claim. It is not a search for truth or recovery. It is a strategy of pressure and profit. And it is time courts, journalists, and the public recognized it for exactly what it is.
Sources
- ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database – https://offshoreleaks.icij.org
- Leavitt v. Sky Warrior Bahamas Ltd., U.S. District Court (D.N.J., 2024) – Court opinion detailing ownership structure
- Florida Department of State – Sky Warrior US, LLC corporate registration
- Sydney Morning Herald (2020) – “Chow Tai Fook’s casino interests face triad-linked junket scrutiny”
- Australian Financial Review (2025) – “Star’s Hong Kong investor hid relationship with criminal junket king Alvin Chau”
- The Tribune (Bahamas) – “Baha Mar rejects claim that buyer linked to crime” (March 29, 2017)
- New Jersey Superior Court filings – Sky Warrior US, LLC v. multiple defendants (2023–2024)
- Queensland Regulatory Inquiry – Sealed report excerpts on CTFE casino conduct