Nevada Regulators Join Las Vegas Money Laundering Probe as Net Widens

The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) has joined a straggly investigation into the possible laundering of proceeds from illegal bookmaking at Las Vegas casinos, the Silver State Current reports.

The gaming regulator is a minuscule later(a) to the party. Last year, the table cleared former Resorts World President Scott Sibella of allegations of connections to convicted illegal bookie “Fat” Dave Stroj.

Stroj had an interestingness inwards a taco restaurant at Resorts World and had been play at the cassino and others inward Las Vegas inward violation of a supervised tone ending clause.

Egg on Face

The gameboard ended upward with egg on their faces sextet months later when the feds subpoenaed Resorts World demanding records of immediate payment and wire transactions. Resorts World fired Sibella shortly after for violating company policy.

In January, Sibella pleaded guilty in a federal courtyard to violating the Bank Secrecy Act. This was because he failed to written report that another bookie, John Wayne Nix, had paid a marker at the MGM Grand with $120K inward hard cash inwards 2018 when Sibella was prexy of that casino.

Sibella admitted that he knew of Nix’s professing and deliberately did non ask the seed of the cash in hand because he would experience had to stoppage him from gambling.

Sibella is scheduled to follow sentenced inwards December. Nix, a former pocket-size conference baseball pitcherful who provided illegal bookmaking to professional person players of several sports, has pleaded shamefaced to illegal play and awaits sentencing.

MGM and the Cosmopolitan entered into nonprosecution agreements with federal agents o'er Nix’s play and paid a $7.45 1000000 resolution betwixt them. Resorts World hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing.

Ohtani Interpreter Scandal

Now, the investigation has widened to focal point on other illegal bookies and whether proceeds make been laundered at Las Vegas casinos. Several sources within the gaming manufacture told The Current that the NGCB had reached come out to them as voice of the investigation and appears to be assisting federal agents with their inquiries.

One focalize of the investigating is Matt Bowyer, an alleged bookie and Las Vegas gambler who received $16 trillion from the bank business relationship of LA Dodgers lead Shohei Ohtani.

The money was allegedly transferred by Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, who was veneer monumental gaming debts and has been supercharged with bank building fraud.

Mizuhara started betting with Bowyer inward Sep 2021, placing approximately 19K bets betwixt Dec 2021 and January 2024, according to prosecutors.