The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) today (13 December) announced a tentative agreement with former MGM Grand and Resorts World executive Scott Sibella, who in January pled guilty to failing to file a suspicious activity report while at the MGM Grand.
Sibella is so far the only person involved in a far-reaching illegal sports betting ring to be sentenced.
Wayne Nix, whom Sibella extended credit to despite having knowledge that he ran an illegal book, Mathew Bowyer, who had up to 700 customers playing at his illegal book, and Ippei Mizuhara, the Japanese language interpreter who stole $17 million (£13.4 million/€16.1 million) from baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani to gamble, all await sentencing. The cases are playing out in US District Court in Southern California. All three defendants pled guilty and face varying amounts of prison time and fines.
Nix’s sentencing is set for 26 March 2025, Bowyer’s sentencing is set for 7 February 2025 and Mizuhara’s sentencing is scheduled for 24 January 2025.
The cases are linked — Nix and Bowyer were working together on an illegal sportsbook — and Mizuhara bet with Bowyer.
Sibella fined, too
Sibella, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, will be placed on the NCGB’s list of denials, revocations and findings of unsuitability. His licence will be revoked for five years, dating to December 2023. He’ll also be fined $10,000.
Sibella was sentenced in US District Court in May. He got one year of probation and was required to pay $9,600 in fines and fees. At that time, Sibella said he took “full and complete responsibility for what I did.” In court documents, he admitted that when he was employed at MGM Grand, he had “heard” that Nix was an illegal bookie, but he was unwilling to accept that fact.
“I didn’t want to know because of my position,” Sibella said in the plea agreement. “In this business they [bookies] are a dime a dozen… I stay out of it. If we know, we can’t allow them to gamble. I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to know I guess, because he wasn’t doing anything to cheat the casino.”
That denial ended up costing Sibella a future in the gambling business. According to the Review-Journal, it’s possible that regulators in other states would decline to hire Sibella due to the revocation. Having a licence in good standing in other jurisdictions could also be a requirement of hire.
NGCB filed complaint against RW, but not MGM Grand
Sibella left MGM Grand before the illegal sports betting investigation reached its zenith. Resorts World fired him in September 2023, and since then, the NCGB has filed a complaint against the resort.
The regulator listed out 12 violations related to anti-money laundering and the California sports betting scandal. Resorts World had until 9 December to respond, but its response is not yet publicly available.
The NGCB so far has not taken any disciplinary action or announced violations against MGM Grand.
