The Nevada Gaming Control Board filed a 12-count complaint against the operators and owners of Resorts World Las Vegas on Thursday alleging failures to combat money laundering in connection with the gambling activities of Mathew R. Bowyer and several other illegal bookmakers.
Bowyer, 49, pleaded guilty on Aug. 9 to three federal counts: operating an illegal gambling business, money laundering and filing a false tax return. Bowyer is the alleged bookie of choice of Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Shohei Ohtani. Mizuhara is accused by federal prosecutors of placing about 19,000 bets with Bowyer’s gambling operation over a period of several years, accumulating net losses of about $40.6 million. Mizuhara is alleged to have embezzled at least $16 million from Ohtani to pay off some of his sports betting debts.
In a 31-page disciplinary complaint, the NGCB detailed how several felons were allowed to wager millions of dollars because Resorts World “failed to comply with its anti-money laundering program.” During a comprehensive investigation, the NGCB documented how its agents uncovered a “lack of compliance” at the multibillion-dollar casino. The lax compliance environment allowed certain individuals with “suspected or actual ties to illegal bookmaking,” a history of illegal gambling convictions, and “ties to organized crime” to gamble millions at the casino.
“Resorts World Las Vegas is aware of the complaint from the Nevada Gaming Control Board (GCB). We are committed to conducting our business with the highest integrity and in accordance with applicable laws and industry guidelines,” it said in a statement Sport grip“We have been actively communicating with the GCB to resolve these issues so we can move forward.”
Bowyer’s story at RWLV
According to the complaint, Bowyer first visited Resorts World Las Vegas (RWLV) in February 2022, nine months after the glitzy property opened at the north end of the Las Vegas Strip. At an estimated cost of $4.3 billion, RWLV is the most expensive casino resort in the city’s history. On his first trip, Bowyer made a $1 million deposit, the complaint says. The casino allowed Bowyer to bet despite not determining his source of funds, according to Nevada regulators.
About two months later, Resorts World Las Vegas entered into an independent agent agreement with Nicole Bowyer, the bookie’s wife. At some point in 2022, RWLV installed Nicole Bowyer as its casino host at Mathew Bowyer’s request. In July of that year, Mathew Bowyer was first investigated by a casino AML committee, according to the complaint. The previous month, Bowyer had made about $2.51 million in front-money deposits, which regulators say resulted in millions in lost wagers. At the time, Bowyer’s account contained about $5.18 million, consisting of front money, casino markers and other casino chips, according to the complaint.
Mathew Bowyer, listed as a partner at Nevada-based Pick Enterprises, LLC, worked as a “known bookmaker,” a Cage executive told the AML committee. In addition, Bowyer used his wife’s independent hosting business as a front, the Cage executive explained.
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For nearly 15 months, from July 2022 to October 1, 2023, Resorts World allowed Bowyer to gamble at the casino 80 times, according to the complaint. During that time, RWLV also provided Bowyer with freebies, promotional chips, discounts and flights on a company jet. During that time, he lost over $6.6 million, regulators said.
According to the complaint, the Anti-Money Laundering Committee discussed Bowyer at least four times between July 2022 and March 2023. At a subsequent Anti-Money Laundering Committee meeting on August 17, 2022, Bowyer was investigated again. At that meeting, a company compliance officer requested a further investigation of Bowyer for a possible connection to a sports betting business.
The following winter, the AML committee evaluated Bowyer at another meeting in February. Documents provided by Resorts World to Nevada regulators show that the committee reviewed Bowyer’s profile while discussing the Currency Transaction Report (CPR) and sports betting analysis.
A host change
On March 22, 2023, an individual named “Manager A” requested that Bowyer’s presenter be replaced with his wife, Nicole. The same manager requested that the word “bookmaker” be removed from a January 2023 agenda, according to the complaint. The description reflected “one person’s opinion,” according to the manager, who added that “there was no evidence of such conduct.” The manager’s request was approved.
Bowyer was banned from Resorts World Las Vegas on October 6, 2023, days after federal agents executed a search warrant for his Southern California home. As part of the deal, Bowyer agreed to turn over nearly $258,000 in cash and another $14,830 in casino chips seized in the raid.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board has filed a complaint against Resorts World Las Vegas for alleged violations of Nevada state gaming laws. They claim that Resorts World’s “compliance issues” have harmed the state of Nevada and its gaming industry.
This is a big deal. pic.twitter.com/3DNYB5vayM
— Las Vegas Local 🌴 (@LasVegasLocally) 15 August 2024
According to Bowyer’s plea agreement, he wired or directed at least $9.34 million to “Casino A” in the form of electronic transfers as payment for casino markers. Casino A’s sportsbook approached Bowyer on multiple occasions to get him to bet big to offset the sportsbook’s risk, prosecutors allege. Multiple sources have identified Casino A as Resorts World Las Vegas, ESPN reported this month. A spokesman, asked specifically Thursday whether RWLV was “Casino A,” declined to comment.
Nicole Bowyer accompanied her husband to the hearing in Southern California last week. The couple held hands as they left a courthouse in Santa Ana, California. While Diane Bass, an attorney for Mathew Bowyer, spoke to reporters outside the federal building, Bowyer had no comment.
Nevada gaming regulators also charged Nicole Bowyer in a separate 10-page disciplinary complaint on Thursday. According to the filing, Nicole received commissions on her husband’s casino gambling, his entourage’s gambling, as well as her own gambling. Ms. Bowyer earned $165,661.73 in commissions in 2022, followed by an additional $501,786.18 in commissions in 2023. To date, Ms. Bowyer has not cooperated with the NGCB’s investigation, the committee wrote in its Thursday statement.
No criminal charges will be brought against Nicole Bowyer, Bass said Sport grip on Thursday via SMS.
Bowyer, described by sources as one of the country’s largest betting and bookmakers, is scheduled to be sentenced in February. Prosecutors allege the Bowyer Gambling Business used several Costa Rica-based websites and a call center to conduct its operations. According to court documents, at least 700 sports bettors gambled with Bowyer’s illegal sports betting ring before his arrest.
Mizuhara reportedly sent a series of wire transfers to the illegal bookmaker, which were subsequently forwarded to gambling accounts at several unnamed casinos in California and Las Vegas. From there, the funds were converted into casino chips and later cashed out to pay the bookmaker, multiple sources told ESPN.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California declined to comment when contacted by Sport grip on Thursday afternoon.
Alleged connections to other bookmakers
Nevada gaming regulators filed the complaint one day after Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Mitchell was scheduled to speak to the 2024 BSA/AML Gaming Conference at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Representatives from the Department of Homeland Security and IRS Criminal Investigations were also on the conference agenda. Two special agents assigned to the case were scheduled to appear at the conference at Caesars Palace.
Mitchell’s talk focused on the prosecution of Scott Sibella, a former president of the MGM Grand. Earlier this spring, Sibella was sentenced to probation for failing to file a report of suspicious transactions at the MGM Grand under the Bank Secrecy Act. In that case, Sibella pleaded guilty in connection with his relationship with Wayne Nix, a former minor league pitcher and illegal bookmaker. A source previously said Sport grip that Bowyer’s agents placed bets with the sports betting ring operated by Nix.
Sibella left MGM Grand in 2019 before becoming president of Resorts World Las Vegas. Last year, RWLV fired Sibella for violating unspecified company policies. Sibella was not named in Thursday’s complaint. Resorts World Las Vegas is a hotel and casino development company owned by the Genting Group, a publicly traded Malaysian company, according to the company’s website.
What penalty would Resorts World face if it is found guilty of money laundering charges brought by the Nevada State Gaming Commission?
– John Mehaffey (@John_Mehaffey) 15 August 2024
In addition to Bowyer, Resorts World Las Vegas allowed two felons convicted of illegal gambling to bet at the casino. RWLV extended a $300,000 loan to Edwin Ting in July 2021 before extending him a $500,000 line of credit in March 2023, according to the lawsuit. Ting was convicted in 2014 for his role in a massive gambling ring that allegedly laundered more than $100 million in winnings. RWLV also allowed Chad Iwamoto to bet millions of dollars over a multi-year period until this May. Iwamoto pleaded guilty in Hawaii in 2014 to charges related to his involvement in an illegal poker ring.
Regulators are seeking a multimillion-dollar fine and action against the Vegas property’s gambling licenses. The fine could run into the tens of millions of dollars, a confidential source said. Sport grip this week.
“The NGCB’s investigation found that there was a culture among Resorts World’s executives of, at the very least, negligently ignoring information about suspicious or illegal activities or, at the very worst, intentionally ignoring it for financial gain,” Nevada regulators wrote in their complaint.
