GGRAsia – LVS to pay US$2-mln fine re Macau complaint by Nevada

LVS to pay US$2-mln fine re Macau complaint by Nevada

May 13, 2016 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp said on Thursday that two of its units had agreed to pay a total “fine” of US$2 million in relation to a complaint filed by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

The Control Board had said in an announcement on Wednesday that the complaint alleged “certain [i.e., particular] violations of the Nevada Gaming Control Act and Regulations of the Nevada Gaming Commission”.

“The allegations revolve around a previously announced settlement the respondents reached with the [U.S.] Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] dated April 7, 2016 and a previously announced non-prosecution agreement the respondents reached with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California dated August 26, 2013,” the Control Board had said in its Wednesday announcement.

On April 7, the SEC had stated that Las Vegas Sands had agreed to pay a penalty of US$9 million to settle charges that it violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) “by failing to properly authorise or document millions of dollars in payments to a consultant facilitating business activities in [mainland] China and Macau”.

Las Vegas Sands Corp said on April 7 that “it neither admitted nor denied” any of the SEC findings.

Las Vegas Sands Corp added at the time that the settlement with the SEC resolved a five-year SEC investigation involving the firm’s compliance with the FCPA. “The SEC made no finding of corrupt intent or bribery by Las Vegas Sands,” the firm stated.

Las Vegas Sands Corp said in its Thursday filing to Nasdaq – regarding the Nevada Gaming Control Board complaint – that the respondents – Las Vegas Sands LLC and Venetian Casino Resort LLC – “neither admit nor deny the allegations set forth in the complaint and agree to pay a fine in the amount of US$2 million”.

Las Vegas Sands Corp is the parent firm of Macau-based Sands China Ltd.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board stated in its Wednesday announcement that the US$2 million settlement was subject to the approval of the Nevada Gaming Commission which was currently scheduled to consider the matter at a hearing on May 19.

The non-prosecution agreement made with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in August 26, 2013, resulted in a US$47.4-million payment by Las Vegas Sands Corp to the U.S. Treasury, according to a filing by the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

The non-prosecution agreement concerned allegations that the company should have identified as suspicious – under the terms of the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act – some wire transfers by a gambling patron in Las Vegas referred to in the agreement as Zhenli Ye Gon.