The operator of the Resorts World Las Vegas casino complex (pictured), a unit of Malaysia’s Genting group, has entered a deal with the regulators where the Genting side would pay a fine of US$10.5 million to the U.S. state of Nevada’s General Fund.
It is part of a proposed settlement with regulators regarding allegedly “unsuitable methods of operation primarily resulting from activities at the licensed property by illegal bookmakers Mathew Bowyer and Damien LeForbes”.
That is according to a statement from the Nevada Gaming Control Board carrying Thursday’s date, and posted on its web portal. It relates to a disciplinary complaint filed by the board on August 15 last year.
The settlement deal – with Resorts World Las Vegas LLC and “its parent companies” – has still to be approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission, at its next monthly meeting on March 27.
Resorts World Las Vegas LLC said in a statement sent to GGRAsia it looked “forward to the Nevada Gaming Commission considering the settlement and ultimately resolving this matter.”
A Monday note from Maybank Investment Bank Bhd said the fine – if agreed and paid – would account for under 5 percent of the Genting Bhd parent’s 2025 earnings. “More importantly, we believe the settlement will encourage gamblers to return to Resorts World Las Vegas,” wrote analyst Samuel Yin Shao Yang.
He added: “Recall that Resorts World Las Vegas’ fourth-quarter 2024 earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation plunged to circa US$1.5 million,” compared to 2023’s quarterly average of US$48.8 million.
“We believe that some gamblers avoided it while it was being investigated by the Nevada Gaming Control Board,” added Maybank.
According to media reports, the fine to be paid by the Genting side would be the second-largest in Nevada-state history, behind a US$20-million fine against casino operator Wynn Resorts Ltd in February 2019 for failing properly to investigate sexual harassment allegations against its former chief executive Steve Wynn.
The respondents in the August 15 complaint against Resorts World Las Vegas included the Malaysian parent Genting Bhd, Resorts World Las Vegas LLC, and four other associated entities.
The stipulation for settlement, also released on Thursday, noted that the respondents “did not admit or deny the allegations,” and that “considering the costs and uncertainty of proceeding to a hearing,” had agreed to the settlement.
Governance changes
Following the August 15 complaint, Resorts World Las Vegas LLC introduced a series of corporate governance changes to its structure. It announced last December the establishment of a board of directors, appointing industry veteran Jim Murren as chair and with former Nevada Gaming Control Board chairman AG Burnett becoming one of its independent directors. The firm also named Alex Dixon as chief executive.
The Thursday statement from the Nevada Gaming Control Board said the proposed settlement also addressed “wholesale changes” to executive leadership at Resorts World Las Vegas LLC, and detailed “numerous remedial measures” implemented at the property.
“The majority of conditions and remediations focus on additional or increased requirements in the Resorts World Las Vegas anti-money laundering [AML] programme,” said the Control Board.
Within the stipulation is an acknowledgement that “if any federal criminal, civil, or administrative action is taken against Resorts World Las Vegas regarding the allegations in the amended complaint or otherwise,” the Control Board “reserves the right to file a separate disciplinary complaint based on the federal action,” stated the memo.
A 31-page complaint filed in August last year detailed how “agents uncovered a lack of compliance within Resorts World [Las Vegas] which allowed a culture that welcomed certain individuals with suspected or actual ties to illegal bookmaking, histories of federal felony convictions related to illegal gambling business, and ties to organised crime”, said at the time the Control Board.
The complaint asserted specified individuals were “allowed to place millions of U.S. dollars in wagers” at the property “over many months because Resorts World [Las Vegas] failed to adhere to its anti-money laundering programme”, according to a press release from the regulator at the time the complaint was filed.
It said Mathew Bowyer, who had “pleaded guilty in federal court to operating an unlawful gambling business, money laundering and subscribing to a false tax return” was one of them.
(Updated at 10.15am, March 24)
