The Nevada Gaming Commission approved a $7.2 million anti-money laundering settlement against The Venetian Resort Las Vegas on a 3-0 vote Thursday, closing an investigation into the property’s dealings with convicted illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer. According to Gambling News, the penalty ranks as the sixth-largest ever imposed on a Nevada gambling company.
Bowyer visited the property at least 30 times between 2019 and 2021, when it was still owned by Las Vegas Sands, depositing roughly $22.3 million and losing at least $3.6 million. Regulators found that a Venetian casino host knew as early as 2019 that Bowyer was operating as an illegal bookmaker, yet the property failed to properly assess the risk or verify his source of funds. The Venetian did not bar Bowyer until 2024, after his case had drawn wide public attention.
The $7.2 million fine represents roughly double Bowyer’s losses at the casino. Under the settlement, first detailed by CDC Gaming, the Venetian must maintain or increase AML compliance staffing for at least two years, complete comprehensive training for hosts and high-credit personnel within 60 days, designate a senior AML officer, and join the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s Section 314(b) information-sharing program.
Nevada’s AML framework requires licensees to monitor patron transactions for signs that funds may derive from illicit activity, obligations the Control Board alleged the Venetian failed to meet despite internal knowledge of Bowyer’s bookmaking. Commissioners George Markantonis and Richard Schonfeld recused themselves over conflicts tied to prior roles connected to the case.
The case is the fourth Bowyer-linked AML settlement approved by Nevada regulators, following penalties against Resorts World, MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, according to iGaming Business. Combined, the four cases have cost Strip operators roughly $34 million.
Apollo Global Management, which acquired the Venetian complex from Las Vegas Sands in a $6.25 billion deal in February 2022, accepted the settlement even though regulators determined the bulk of Bowyer’s activity predated the ownership change. The Venetian’s attorney argued that only a fraction of Bowyer’s losses occurred under Apollo’s ownership. Regulators considered the timing of the ownership change a mitigating circumstance in determining the penalty.
One commissioner expressed frustration that the people he wanted to question were not before the commission, even as the settlement formally closes the matter against the current licensee. Bowyer has separately pleaded guilty to running an illegal gambling business, money laundering and filing a false tax return, with his name also surfacing in the federal investigation into Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
Source: Gambling News
Petra Vanhoof has spent the better part of a decade following the shifting tides of gambling regulation across Europe and beyond. She came up through the compliance side of the industry before pivoting to writing, which gives her a grounded, no-nonsense perspective on the rules, loopholes, and political maneuvering that shape how operators actually do business. She is particularly drawn to the gap between what regulators say and what the market ends up doing in response.