State gaming regulators announced a stipulated settlement with Wynn Resorts late Thursday that will see the casino operator pay a $5.5 million fine over unregistered international money transmissions.
The agreement, the third major fine levied against a Strip casino operator in the last three months by the Gaming Control Board that involves violations of anti-money laundering laws, will be considered by the Nevada Gaming Commission at Thursday’s meeting in Las Vegas.
In April, MGM Resorts International agreed to pay an $8.5 million fine, a month after Resorts World Las Vegas agreed to a $10.5 million fine. In both cases, a former gaming executive allowed illegal bookmakers to gamble millions of dollars and pay debts in cash at Strip properties.
Former U.S. Attorney for Nevada Greg Brower said recent enforcement actions should be viewed as “largely anomalous situations” in that they involved incidents from years ago or were related to the “isolated misconduct of one or a handful of individuals who violated company policies.”
Brower, now a shareholder with the Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber, Schreck law firm, said Nevada casinos have taken anti-money laundering compliance seriously by providing staffing, training and incorporating new technology, and that the penalties assessed on Resorts World, MGM and Wynn “clearly show that all casinos must remain vigilant to ensure that their compliance programs are up-to-date [and] adequately resourced.”
The fine follows Wynn’s forfeiture of $130 million in September when the casino reached a “non-prosecution settlement” with the Department of Justice ending a case involving questionable transactions at Wynn Las Vegas.
In statements to the media and the federal Securities and Exchange Commission at the time, the company said the forfeiture wasn’t a fine, and findings in the decade-long case didn’t amount to money laundering. The forfeiture by Wynn was the largest penalty a Nevada gaming company has paid to the Justice Department to settle an investigation.
In a statement posted to the social media platform X on Thursday, Control Board Chairman Kirk Hendrick said former employees of Wynn allowed “international patrons to obtain and/or transfer money improperly for the purposes of wagering.”
In connection with the settlement, the control board filed a six-count complaint against Wynn, stating that those transfers violated the company’s anti-money laundering compliance program.
A spokesman for Wynn Resorts did not respond to an email request for comment.
Hendrick said control board agents were kept apprised of the federal investigation and the agency launched its probe into the matter “with full cooperation of Wynn.” He said the resort implemented changes to its anti-money laundering program, including additional employee training.
In Thursday’s proposed settlement, the control board wrote that the Wynn employees involved in allowing the illegal activity are no longer employed by the company, a new executive team and board of directors are in place and the company has made enhancements to its anti-money laundering programs.
In September, following the settlement of the federal case, Wynn said in a statement the company accepted responsibility for actions “from many years ago that violated Wynn’s compliance policies and procedures.”
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