A major Las Vegas Strip casino will be shelling out one of the biggest fines in history, according to recent reports.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board agreed to a proposed settlement with Resorts World that ends with the property doling out $10.5 million to the regulatory body. It’s the second-largest gaming fine in the state’s history, behind only the $20 million fine levied on Wynn Resorts in the wake of Steve Wynn’s sexual assault allegations.
That agreement also includes stipulations on the company’s gaming licenses.
The penalties come after a complaint was filed in August and the property allegedly engaged in unsuitable operations and allowed illegal bookies Mathew Bowyer and Damien LeForbes to wager large sums of money at the property.
In the original complaint, the commission noted that the casino had “an overall lack of control within Resorts World and acceptance among Resorts World executives of a culture where information of suspicious or illegal activity, at a minimum, is negligently disregarded, or at worst, willfully ignored for financial gain, given the overall pressure for Resorts World to generate revenue, and that the bonuses of Resorts World executives are directly tied to the financial success of Resorts World.”
Money Laundering Concerns
The complaint notes that the casino cage manager warned that Bowyer was an illegal bookie during anti-money laundering compliance committee meetings and that casino executives ignored those warnings. But that section of the meeting was stricken from the meeting’s minutes.
The property allowed Bowyer to gamble from 2021 to 2023 and knew that his business was based on illegal gambling, according to investigators. Bowyer told casino officials that he was a real estate investor, the complaint notes, but was unable to verify that as the source of his funds.
“Resorts World executives explained to board agents that it should take no longer than 90 days to complete a source of funds investigation,” the commission noted. “However, Bowyer was allowed to play at Resorts World for approximately 20 months without establishing his source of funds and or that his source of funds was consistent with his level of play.”
Playing With Dodgers Money
Ippei Mizuhara, interpreter for L.A. Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani was one of Bowyer and LeForbes’ gamblers, according to federal investigators, and lost millions of dollars using the baseball star’s bank accounts. Mizuhara received 57 months in federal prison in February.
As a result, the two were gambling at Resorts World with Ohtani’s stolen funds.
In August, LeForbes pleaded guilty to federal money laundering charges and operating an illegal gambling business. He faces up to 15 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Bowyer pled guilty in December to operating an unlawful gambling business, money laundering, and subscribing to a false tax return and faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
Some industry insiders believe Resorts World may be getting off easy considering some of the charges against the property.
“From reading the state complaint, Resorts World gave every appearance of being institutionally out of control,” former California Gambling Control Commission member and longtime casino executive Richard Schuetz told the Nevada Current. “This is a continuing chapter that indicates that Nevada’s regulatory assets have lost the plot. This does not even amount to a wrist slap.”
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