MGM Resorts agrees to $8.5 million fine over Las Vegas anti-money laundering violations

MGM Resorts International has agreed to pay an $8.5 million fine to settle allegations brought by Nevada regulators that the company failed to flag suspicious gambling activity tied to two illegal bookmakers at two of MGM’s Las Vegas Strip casinos. 

The settlement, revealed in a 10-count complaint filed on April 17 by the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB), stems from anti-money laundering (AML) violations at the MGM Grand and the Cosmopolitan between 2015 and 2018.

The core of the complaint are two figures now well known to federal authorities: Wayne Nix, a former minor league baseball player, and Mathew Bowyer, a high-stakes bookmaker. Both men have pleaded guilty to operating illegal gambling enterprises and await sentencing in separate federal cases. 

Regulators allege that MGM executives, including then-President of MGM Grand Scott Sibella, knowingly allowed the two to gamble at their properties using illicit funds, much of it reportedly delivered in duffel bags or paper sacks filled with high-denomination bills.

Ex-President of MGM Grand Scott Sibella

Sibella was last year sentenced to a year of probation after pleading guilty to violating federal anti-money laundering regulations. The sentencing, handed down by U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee, also includes a fine of $9,500 and a $100 special assessment. His state gaming licence was revoked for at least five years last December.

“The company has made substantial investments to build one of the industry’s strongest anti-money laundering programs,” MGM said in a statement, adding that it “cooperated fully with the Nevada Gaming Control Board to resolve this matter.” The company also pledged further action to enhance safeguards and accountability across its casinos.

While the NGCB conducted much of the investigation, it is the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) that will make the final call on the settlement during its April 24 meeting. If approved, it will mark the fourth-largest fine ever issued by the state’s regulators.

The complaint accuses MGM of operating in an unsuitable manner by extending privileges to known illegal bookmakers, including complimentary hotel stays, meals, and other perks designed to keep them playing. 

In Nix’s case, the allegations span eight of the ten charges filed, including claims that Sibella and two casino hosts continued offering him VIP treatment even after being alerted to his activities by high-stakes gambler R.J. Cipriani.

Bowyer’s case echoes similar concerns. MGM staff flagged his conduct internally as early as 2015, and in 2018, three employees received an email warning that he was “an illegal bookie.” According to the complaint, no action was taken, and Bowyer was allowed to continue gambling over 300 times in four years. 

One of his most infamous clients was Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for MLB star Shohei Ohtani, who was sentenced in February to nearly five years in prison for embezzling $17 million to fund his bets with Bowyer.

The scandal has rippled beyond MGM. Resorts World Las Vegas, where Sibella later served as president, recently paid a $10.5 million fine after also being linked to Bowyer.