The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NCGB) entered into a proposed stipulation for settlement with Resorts World Las Vegas (RWLV) on Thursday (20 March) in the latest chapter of a comprehensive investigation that has ensnared the bookmaker of Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter.
The proposed settlement was reached months after the NGCB issued a 12-count complaint against RWLV stemming from the property’s purported anti-money laundering (AML) deficiencies. Given the enormity of the probe, questions arose of whether the NGCB would impose the largest fine against a casino in state history.
The stipulation includes a fine of $10.5 million (£7.7 million/€9.2 million), payable to the Nevada general fund. The proposed monetary penalty pales in comparison to a $20 million fine Wynn Resorts received in 2019 over the company’s failure to investigate sexual misconduct allegations against casino mogul Steve Wynn.
As part of the proposed stipulation against RWLV and its parent company, Genting Berhad, the order dictates a range of specific conditions that may be placed on RWLV gaming licenses. The proposed stipulation also seeks to resolve an amended complaint that alleged unsuitable methods of operation over a multi-year period.
The allegations primarily result from operations inside the licensed property involving two illegal bookmakers, Mathew Bowyer and Damien Leforbes. Both bookmakers are awaiting sentencing on federal money laundering charges.
Heavy wagering at RWLV
Last August, the NGCB issued a 31-page complaint against RWLV and its parent company, where regulators outlined a slew of alleged anti-money laundering and compliance deficiencies. Bowyer, a Southern California bookmaker, ran an illegal operation with approximately 700 clients, whose wagers were funnelled offshore. The bookie also handled approximately $325 million in sports wagers from Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s former interpreter. Mizuhara was sentenced last month to 57 months in federal prison on bank fraud and tax evasion convictions.
Over a 14-month span through October 2023, Bowyer gambled at RWLV at least 80 times, during which he lost approximately $6.6 million at the casino, according to the complaint. Opened in June 2021, Resorts World Las Vegas cost more than $4.2 billion to complete, making it the most expensive casino property in Las Vegas history. In total, Bowyer lost at least $7.9 million at the Vegas property, the complaint reads.
Bowyer, according to sources, ran one of the nation’s largest joint betting-bookmaking operations. The assertions are mostly corroborated by his wife Nicole, who has described her husband as one of the nation’s largest bookies.
The NGCB filed two charges against Nicole Bowyer last August relating to her role as an alleged RWLV casino host for her husband. While attorneys for Nicole Bowyer appeared at a January hearing on her behalf, the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) rejected a proposed settlement. At the time, several commissioners recommended a harsher penalty than the one sought by the NGCB.
Allegations of non-compliance
As a VIP gambler at RWLV, Mathew Bowyer’s file appeared before the casino’s AML committee on numerous occasions. A few members of the committee noted that Bowyer’s sources of funds were not commensurate with his wagering patterns.
At one committee meeting in March 2023, the members discussed Bowyer’s role as a “bookie,” the complaint states. Two months earlier, an unnamed executive requested for the title to be stricken from Bowyer’s record. His request was granted, according to the complaint.
The complaint includes a lengthy section quoting from Resorts World Las Vegas’ AML program. At the outset, RWLV reiterated that it was committed to maintaining a “risk-based AML program with effective internal controls” that comply with Title 31 of the Bank Secrecy Act. Under the program, Resorts World indicated that it views legal compliance and ethical business practices as pillars at the “core” of its business.
“The company regards attempts at money laundering as a threat to the integrity to the company, the gaming industry and on the entire financial system,” it wrote.
‘Poker After Dark’
Leforbes, a prominent poker player, also received mention in Thursday’s press release. Leforbes, a participant on the program “Poker After Dark,” has cashed several times at the World Series of Poker. He won $13,546 at a 2016 WSOP event and won a tournament at the 2007 “Big Poker Oktober” series.
Over a near two-year period, Leforbes wagered $148 million at a property identified in court filings as “Casino A.” Among other charges, the Leforbes Gambling Business accepted payments from customers in casino chips, including chips from the casino property.
At the same time, Leforbes allegedly used crypto wallets to transmit payments for his gambling clients, according to court records. Leforbes piled up losses around $12.3 million on dozens of trips to RWLV, the Nevada Current reported. The property identified as “Casino A” appears to be Resorts World Las Vegas, ESPN reported, citing multiple sources.
Beyond the two bookmakers, Nevada regulators also noted how RWLV allowed several individuals convicted of a gambling-related felony to place wagers inside the casino. One individual, Edwin Ting, lost more than $800,000 at RWLV over a 25-month period through July 2023, according to the complaint. Ting was granted credit at RWLV despite his conviction for conducting an illegal gambling business.
In January 2014, Ting was sentenced to five months in prison and ordered to forfeit $2 million for his role in the enterprise. Ting was charged with 33 other alleged members and associates of two Russian organised crime enterprises in a sweeping federal investigation. Among the felonies, federal prosecutors charged the ring with racketeering, illegal gambling and money laundering. The ring’s violent collection methods were chronicled in the 2017 film “Molly’s Game“.
Sibella casts blame on bookies
“The NGCB investigation revealed acceptance among Resorts World executives of a culture where information of suspicious or illegal activity is, at a minimum, negligently disregarded or, at worst, willfully ignored for financial gain,” Nevada regulators wrote in the August complaint.
The proposed settlement comes amid numerous sentencing delays on the criminal side. Leforbes initially faced sentencing earlier this year in the same week as Mizuhara. That sentencing hearing for Leforbes has been moved to June.
Wayne Nix, another illegal bookmaker facing charges, is scheduled to be sentenced 26 March. Nix has had his sentencing pushed back several times since his April 2022 guilty plea for conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business.
Scott Sibella, a former casino executive, is a central figure in the intertwined cases. A former president at MGM Grand, Sibella later served in the same capacity at RWLV. The executive avoided prison time last May when he was sentenced on federal anti-money laundering charges. Sibella received 12 months probation and a fine for his failure to file a suspicious activity report (SAR) on Nix’s transactions at the MGM Grand.
After leaving the MGM Grand, Sibella served in a leadership capacity at RWLV in the months leading to its grand opening. Resorts World Las Vegas terminated Sibella in September 2023 for unspecified company violations. Since Sibella’s sentencing, a former sportsbook executive and another high-level executive have left RWLV, according to multiple sources.
Part of the Scott Sibella statement.
December 19, 2024
— Vegas Visual (@vegas_visual) December 20, 2024
Reached by the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Thursday, Sibella described a culture where illegal bookies face few barriers to entry.
“The two bookmakers that put Resorts World in this situation, gambled at all the major casinos in Las Vegas for many years, before, during and after Resorts World opened,” he wrote in the statement.
Rampant money laundering abound
Money laundering and other financial crimes are ubiquitous across major casinos, according to a source who spoke to iGB Thursday on the condition of anonymity. Last September, Wynn Las Vegas agreed to forfeit $130 million to settle criminal allegations that it conspired with several unlicensed money-transmitting businesses.
Following the settlement, New York State Gaming Commission chairman Brian O’Dwyer noted that the nefarious activities at several Las Vegas casinos may have implications on the downstate New York casino bidding process.
Years earlier, Queensland regulators handed down a A$100 million fine, which in 2022 was the equivalent of $67.9 million, to Star Entertainment, the operator of one of Australia’s largest casinos.
The major AML violations remain topical today as Bally’s considers a bid for two Star casino properties Down Under.
Vegas hearing next week
Within the NGCB settlement is an acknowledgement that the NGCB reserves the right to file a separate disciplinary complaint. The stipulation applies if any federal criminal, civil or administrative action is taken against RWLV. As a result, the NGCB may still file a separate complaint based on potential federal action.
“Resorts World Las Vegas has reached a pending settlement with the Nevada Gaming Control Board,” a company representative said in a statement. “We look forward to the Nevada Gaming Commission considering the settlement and ultimately resolving this matter.”
The Nevada Gaming Commission is scheduled to consider approval of the stipulation at a meeting on 27 March. At that time, counsel for RWLV and the Nevada attorney general’s office will explain the terms of the proposed stipulation and request NGC approval of the negotiated settlement.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/legal-compliance/regulation/resorts-world-vegas-nevada-proposed-settlement/
