A judge in Las Vegas has ruled that renowned sports betting influencer David Oancea, commonly known as “Vegas Dave,” is in contempt of court. He is required to either surrender various high-value assets or face incarceration by August 5, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
On Friday, District Judge Tara Clark Newberry determined that the 49-year-old Oancea consistently disregarded court mandates and financial penalties stemming from a civil ruling involving Cabo Platinum, a luxury vacation rental firm based in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Oancea has amassed a substantial online following of over 9.3 million Instagram users and appeared in Showtime’s 2019 sports-betting documentary series Action. Cabo Platinum alleges that he disrupted rental agreements for multiple properties linked to him by blocking access and interfering with bookings, in violation of established contracts.
In July 2025, District Judge Timothy Williams mandated Oancea to pay a $30.2 million verdict and prohibited him from interfering with rentals or limiting access to properties. Nonetheless, court documents indicate he continued to flout these orders without paying the judgment, according to the R-J.
Two Weeks’ Notice
In September 2025, Oancea was instructed to submit various luxury assets, including three properties in Mexico, $375,000 in cryptocurrency, a Richard Mille watch, and several Hermès Birkin bags. He was given a two-week deadline to comply, yet he failed to do so.
After a six-day evidentiary hearing, Judge Newberry concluded that parts of Oancea’s testimony were “false” and demonstrated “willful noncompliance.” The ruling mentioned: “This court finds that Mr. Oancea was not a credible witness. His statements were inconsistent, contradicted by documentation and prior sworn statements, and exhibited evasive and argumentative tendencies.”
Furthermore, Newberry awarded Cabo Platinum approximately $294,000 in attorney fees and $17,000 in costs, stating that any asserted inability to comply was “self-created, strategic, and stemming from voluntary actions to evade compliance.”
Oancea’s legal team — Alex LeVeque, Ross Evans, and Michael Desmond — contended in their filing that the case had escalated well beyond a typical contract dispute, labeling it “a cautionary tale about the extensive contempt powers held by district courts.”