SunCruz Casinos offered offshore "cruises to nowhere", legally transporting passengers into international waters beyond the reach of federal and state gambling laws.
In 1994 Boulis, already a multi-millionaire by founding the Miami Subs sandwich shop franchise, bought a number of luxury yachts.
By the time he entered into negotiations to sell the company in 2000, SunCruz Casinos was earning tens of millions of dollars in annual profits, and employed over 2,000 people.
U.S. shipping code forbids foreign nationals from owning American commercial vessels, and Boulis was a Greek citizen.
Boulis' lawyer Art Dimopoulos worked at Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds, a large firm in Seattle, Washington.
In March 2000, before the deal was closed, Ney entered comments in the Congressional Record accusing the SunCruz management of cheating passengers.
[5] The relationship between Boulis and Abramoff's partners grew so contentious that he had a fistfight with one of them at a business meeting in December 2000, with both parties allegedly making threats.
A lawsuit brought by Boulis' estate alleges that an Abramoff associate made three payments of $10,000 to Anthony Moscatiello immediately prior to the murder.
Similarly, the personal financial statements provided to Foothill by Abramoff and his associates contained false information concerning their respective assets and liabilities.
[8] On March 29, 2006, Abramoff and one of his partners were sentenced to five years and ten months in prison -— the minimum allowed per the plea bargain -— and were ordered to pay restitution of more than $21 million for their involvement in the SunCruz casino deal.
According to The Washington Post, Bob Ney came under investigation by prosecutors for his role in aiding the purchase,[9] and was implicated in Abramoff's plea agreement.
[8] (In a separate Indian lobbying case, Abramoff pleaded guilty to charges including bribing a Congressman who was later identified as Ney.)
Scanlon wrote a draft statement for Ney that Adam Kidan, the main partner of Abramoff in purchasing SunCruz.