Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson recently lost a big lawsuit and has been ordered to pay Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen $70 million.

All along, Suen has maintained that he was instrumental in helping the Las Vegas Sands Corp. obtain licensing in Macau. He claims to have spent $328 million lobbying Chinese officials, which certainly worked because Sands has four Macau-based resorts.

However, Sheldon argued that Suen didn't really do anything in regard to helping Sands obtain Macau casino licenses. Obviously the jury thought differently since they awarded $70 million to Mr. Suen.

Adelson's attorney, J. Stephen Peek, was less than satisfied with the decision. Peek said that a female juror admitted to being biased against Adelson. Based on this factor, Adelson is already in the process of appealing the verdict.

Suen's attorney, John O'Malley, believes that justice was served and will hold up against any appeals. He stated the following:

Sheldon Adelson has unlimited resources by any definition of the term and he can keep this going until the state Supreme Court sustains the verdict. I think the court will do so this time and that Sheldon Adelson will finally have to pay his bill.

This legal battle has been going on since 2004, when Richard Suen first took his case to Nevada. By 2008, he was awarded $58.6 million on grounds that he was an integral part of helping Las Vegas Sands get Macau licensing. However, Adelson appealed and the Nevada Supreme Court dismissed the case entirely.

Assuming the latest decision holds up and Adelson is forced to pay $70 million, this will only put a small dent in his overall fortune. The casino magnate is worth an estimated $25 billion and, according to Forbes, is the 12th richest person in the world.