Los Angeles County casino pays $500K fine after gambler bet $100M in cash on marathonic sessions

Bicycle Hotel & Casino, a Los Angeles County property located in Bell Gardens, was heavily fined for failing to alert financial regulators and the Internal Revenue Service when a “high roller” walked in with $100 million in cash to bet on games of baccarat. 

When patrons buy over $10,000 in chips using cash, a casino is required to file a currency-transaction report and a suspicious-activity report with the Department of Treasury. 

Federal prosecutors say the gambler made over 100 visits to the casino over eight months in 2016, often arriving with duffle bags full of cash to bet on marathon sessions of the high-stakes card games. Frequently, the man’s assistant would exchange millions in cash for chips, with the player cashing in and out approximately $100 million during the course of his gambling spree. Prosecutors also say the casino violated the law by filing the forms in the name of the gambler's assistant. 

Last week, the casino reached a non prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice, under which it will pay a $500,000 fine and revamp its anti-money-laundering protocols. 

According to Market Watch, Johnny L. Griffin III, the casino’s attorney, said the company acknowledged it had made a mistake and set everything into motion to amend its fillings and was committed “to ensuring that all of its compliance and reporting programs are strictly followed and updated as the laws and regulations require”.

Griffin also informed that the government “has determined and confirmed that there are no systemic faults within the Bicycle Hotel & Casino’s compliance and reporting programs”.  

Located in Bell Gardens, California, The Bicycle Hotel & Casino has been operating since 1984, specializing in card games such as poker, baccarat and pai gow, and has frequently been featured on the televised World Poker Tour. In 2017, the casino was the subject of a raid by authorities investigating possible money laundering. 

In 1990, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the IRS seized control of the Bicycle Casino after it was determined that it had been constructed in part using laundered drug money, and it was later sold to a group of investors.