Arrest Warrant Issued After ‘Vegas Dave’ Skips Court

A Las Vegas judge issued a no-bail bench warrant on Thursday (Aug. 13) for David Oancea after the Las Vegas sports betting influencer failed to appear for a scheduled surrender hearing. District Judge Joe Hardy had ordered Oancea, better known as “Vegas Dave,” to be taken into custody as part of contempt sanctions stemming from a civil case brought by Cabo Platinum, a luxury vacation‑rental company in Mexico.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oancea’s attorneys appeared in court on Thursday, but he did not. Attorney Alex LeVeque told Hardy that Oancea had been informed of the contempt order, but declined to comment on his client’s whereabouts or even if he was aware of them.

The missed hearing marks the latest flashpoint in a dispute that began years earlier.

Oancea built a massive online following of over 9.3 million Instagram users and appeared in Showtime’s 2019 sports-betting docuseries Action. However, vacation rental agency Cabo Platinum accused him of sabotaging bookings for several properties, alleging he blocked guest access and interfered with confirmed reservations.

In July 2025, District Judge Timothy Williams ordered Oancea to pay a $30.2 million judgement, and prohibited him from disrupting rentals or restricting property access. However, court filings say he continued to violate those directives and never paid the judgment, according to the R-J.

Williams also barred him from disrupting rentals going forward, but court filings say Oancea continued violating those directives.

Two Weeks’ Notice

In September 2025, Oancea was ordered to surrender a collection of luxury items including three Mexican properties, $375,000 in cryptocurrency, a Richard Mille watch, and several Hermès Birkin bags. He was given two weeks to comply, but did not.

Instead, he claimed the assets were no longer his. After a six‑day evidentiary hearing, District Judge Tara Clark Newberry found his testimony “false,” “inconsistent,” and “evasive,” concluding he had willfully refused to comply.

“This court finds that Mr. Oancea was not a credible witness,” her order stated.

Newberry gave Oancea two “purge” options: turn over the assets (or cash equivalents) and sign a power‑of‑attorney granting Cabo Platinum principal Mishan Andre authority over his Mexican property interests, or surrender himself and remain incarcerated until he complied.

Newberry also awarded Cabo Platinum nearly $294,000 in attorneys’ fees and $17,000 in costs, writing that any claimed inability to comply was “self‑created, strategic, and the result of voluntary acts to avoid compliance.”

As of this week, Cabo Platinum attorney Dan McNutt confirmed Oancea had not satisfied any of the conditions. In an email filed with the court, LeVeque wrote, “I am not in possession of any of the items.”

Oancea was supposed to surrender on Aug. 6, but Hardy delayed the date by one week while the Nevada Supreme Court considered Oancea’s emergency request to pause the contempt order. The court declined in a two-page ruling on Aug. 5.