Recently, the Venetian casino agreed to pay a $7.2 million fine for anti-money laundering violations involving illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer, a situation that spanned both the current owner, Apollo Global Management, and the previous owner, Las Vegas Sands. This scandal, which peaked in the last decade of Sands' operations, marked a troubling conclusion for the casino giant's time on the Strip.
Las Vegas Sands sold the Venetian to Apollo in 2021, signifying its exit from its namesake market to concentrate on its operations in Macau and Singapore. The company's aspirations for expansion in the US, particularly in Texas and New York, faced significant hurdles, leading to the heavy downscaling of its Las Vegas presence. While Sands maintains its headquarters in Las Vegas, it no longer owns any casinos and closed its digital division last year, which was also based in the city.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) found that Bowyer, who has accrued a total of $34 million in anti-money laundering fines across four Las Vegas establishments, had been a patron of the Venetian since it opened in 1999. Most of the infractions occurred between 2019 and 2021, during the last years of Sands' ownership.
According to the NGCB, the Venetian was unable to verify Bowyer’s source of funds starting in 2019, and he was not banned from the casino until 2024, well after Apollo took over. During this period, Bowyer visited the venue 30 times, with deposits totaling $22.3 million and losses amounting to $3.6 million. This revelation adds to a series of negative events the Sands faced leading up to the sale of the Venetian.
The NGCB has withheld comments on the investigation until it progresses to the Nevada Gaming Commission, while Sands has not issued a statement regarding the situation.
Bowyer's case mirrors that of Zhenli Ye Gon, a notorious drug trafficker. When Bowyer returned to the Venetian in 2019, he was already one of the largest illegal bookmakers in the United States. He previously operated as a bookmaker for Ippei Mizuhara, who misappropriated millions from baseball player Shohei Ohtani for gambling purposes. Concerns about Bowyer’s presence at the casino were initially flagged by a Sands host, but these were downplayed after an internal review allowed him continued access to the casino's gaming floors. The NGCB also found that a third-party due diligence report from 2021 expressed concerns about Bowyer that were disregarded, and his assigned host was aware of his bookmaking activities but failed to report them.
The situation takes on greater significance when compared to the Ye Gon case, where Sands also neglected to properly vet funds and failed to submit adequate suspicious activity reports regarding his interactions with the casino. Between 2005 and 2007, Ye Gon transferred around $45 million and deposited $13 million in cashier's cheques without Sands notifying the authorities until April 2007, long after the incidents.
In 2013, Sands forfeited $47.4 million in relation to the Ye Gon case to avoid criminal prosecution. Authorities acknowledged that Sands had taken substantial measures to improve its internal compliance programs, which played a role in ensuring no criminal charges were laid.
Shortly after this forfeiture, US Attorney André Birotte Jr. stated that Sands had faced credible threats of federal charges before reaching an agreement with the government. It later emerged that Sheldon Adelson, the company’s founder, had strong connections that may have influenced this outcome.
Harry Reid, the former Nevada senator and Senate majority leader, reportedly intervened on Sands' behalf during this period. Emails disclosed by journalist Jon Ralston indicated that on the day Sands announced its forfeiture, Reid's deputy David Krone forwarded the announcement to him, prompting Reid to claim, "Wouldn't have happened without my help." Reid and Adelson both died in 2021 at the ages of 82 and 87, respectively.
Adding to the narrative were allegations against Sands involving political maneuvering. In 2010, former Sands China CEO Steven Jacobs filed a wrongful termination suit against the company, claiming Adelson pressured him to exert leverage on Chinese officials. Sands sought support from the NGCB in this ongoing litigation, but after several requests were rebuffed, then-Attorney General Adam Laxalt met with NGCB Chair AG Burnett in a bid to persuade him to file an amicus brief. Burnett secretly recorded their discussion and reported it to federal authorities, launching a major ethics investigation.
Burnett testified at a recent licensing hearing that significant pressure was applied to Laxalt regarding the filing, but he remained resolute in his refusal.
For Sands, 2016 was financially burdensome. During two months that spring, the company settled Jacobs' lawsuit for over $75 million, paid a $2 million fine to regulators regarding the Ye Gon incident and other accounting errors involving a Chinese consultant, and incurred an additional $9 million fine from the SEC for maintaining inaccurate financial records linked to that consultant.
Following the SEC's fine, Adelson emphasized Sands' commitment to advancing its compliance program to ensure integrity in its operations.
