Las Vegas Sands: Scandals Marked Final Decade on the Strip

The Venetian's anti-money laundering (AML) violations connected to illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer were the last in a series of scandals for Las Vegas Sands before their departure from Las Vegas. News broke last week that The Venetian agreed to a $7.2 million fine imposed by the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB). This penalty concerns failures related to Bowyer, spanning both the tenure of the current owner, Apollo Global Management, and the original owner, Las Vegas Sands.

When Sands sold The Venetian to Apollo in 2021, it marked the company's formal exit from its namesake market. The operator now focuses exclusively on Macau and Singapore, following stalled US expansion efforts in Texas and New York. Sands still maintains its headquarters in Las Vegas, though its casinos have been sold, and its digital arm, which was also based in Las Vegas, was shut down last year.

Numbers and facts

According to the NGCB's investigation, Mathew Bowyer, who has now been at the center of $34 million worth of combined AML fines across four Las Vegas operators, had been a patron of The Venetian since 1999, its opening year. However, the core of the AML violations occurred between 2019 and 2021, towards the end of Sands' ownership period. The casino failed to substantiate Bowyer's source of funds starting in 2019 and did not formally ban him until 2024, long after Apollo had taken over. According to the NGCB, from 2019-2021, Bowyer made 30 trips to The Venetian, deposited $22.3 million, and lost $3.6 million. These findings add to what was a "litany of negative developments" for Sands in the years leading up to The Venetian's sale.

Bowyer's case is similar to a 2013 incident involving another dubious patron, alleged drug trafficker Zhenli Ye Gon. Gon, who was extradited to Mexico in 2016 on trafficking charges, was described by federal prosecutors as "the largest all-cash, up-front gambler The Venetian-Palazzo had ever had" when he frequented the casino in the early 2000s. As with Bowyer, Sands failed to properly vet Gon and his funds. Specifically, the company failed to file enough suspicious activity reports when Gon transferred approximately $45 million and deposited $13 million worth of cashier's checks at The Venetian from 2005-2007. No SARs were filed until April 2007, after that period. Sands eventually forfeited $47.4 million to the US government in 2013 in relation to the Gon case, avoiding criminal prosecution in doing so.

Another high-profile scandal, nestled between the Gon and Bowyer cases, involved Sands and Nevada politics. This began in 2010 when former Sands China CEO Steven Jacobs filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the company, alleging that Adelson pressured him to use "leverage" against Chinese government officials. In 2015 and again in 2016, Sands asked the NGCB to file an amicus brief on its behalf in the ongoing lawsuit. After the board declined again, Nevada's then-Attorney General Adam Laxalt met personally with then-NGCB Chair A.G. Burnett to try and persuade Burnett to file the brief. Burnett secretly recorded the conversation and shared it with federal authorities, which sparked a massive political ethics investigation.

"There was a lot of pressure placed on Mr. Laxalt to have the Gaming Control Board file an amicus, and he indeed asked us to file that amicus, and I said no," Burnett told regulators at a licensing hearing in March this year. "I was extremely proud about that situation and how it was handled."

2016 was an expensive year for Sands. Within two months, from April to May, the company had to pay more than $75 million to settle the Jacobs lawsuit, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Additionally, there was a $2 million fine to Nevada regulators for violations stemming from the Gon case and accounting errors involving a Chinese consultant. Another $9 million fine was paid to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the accounting errors. According to the SEC, Sands had "inaccurate books and records" for $62 million paid to the consultant to "obscure the company’s role in certain business transactions."

Background

The Sands Hotel was once an icon in Las Vegas, where Frank Sinatra and other luminaries performed. According to a video by Old Money Mansions on YouTube, it was demolished in 1996. In its place, The Venetian Resort was opened in 1999, transforming Las Vegas into a global center for meetings and conventions. Sands itself states on sands.com that for over 30 years, they have been driving high-value tourism through their integrated resorts. They highlight their role as developers and operators of world-class resorts that include luxury hotels, state-of-the-art meeting facilities, and a variety of entertainment options.

Why it matters for German players

The scandals surrounding Las Vegas Sands, particularly the anti-money laundering violations, underscore the importance of strict regulation in the gambling sector. For German players, this means that they are on the safe side when playing in online casinos that hold a license from the Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States (GGL). The GGL sets extremely high standards for operators, especially in the areas of player protection and money laundering prevention. These casinos on the GGL whitelist are carefully vetted and subject to continuous monitoring by the authority.

Players in Germany benefit from mechanisms such as the 1 euro per spin betting limit for online slot machines and the monthly deposit limit of 1,000 euros, which is monitored via the central blocking system LUGAS. These measures are a direct result of experiences from cases like those of Las Vegas Sands, where a lack of controls led to illegal activities. GGL-licensed casinos ensure that financial transactions are transparent and that players are protected from potential risks. Anyone playing in an unlicensed casino, for example, one with a license from Malta or Curaçao, is not subject to these strict German protective measures and therefore bears a higher risk – both in terms of player protection and the integrity of financial transactions.

What it means for GGL-licensed casinos

For GGL-licensed casinos, the message is clear: compliance with anti-money laundering guidelines and other regulations is non-negotiable. German authorities place great importance on prevention and transparency to avoid similar incidents to those at Las Vegas Sands. This means that operators must implement comprehensive due diligence processes, especially for high rollers, to verify the origin of funds and report suspicious activities without delay. The GlüStV 2021 has established clear guidelines here, which are intended to ensure seamless monitoring. Violations can not only lead to high fines but also to the revocation of the license.