The Nevada Gaming Management Board (NGCB) reached an settlement on Thursday with Scott Sibella, the previous president of Resorts World and MGM Grand, during which he agreed to give up his gaming license as a part of a five-year ban from Nevada’s gaming trade.
Scott Sibella was fired from Resorts World in September 2023, when the on line casino resort discovered in regards to the federal investigation into his ties to money-laundering. (Picture: deluxeversionmagazine.com)
The settlement settles a three-count criticism filed by the NGCB in April that alleged that Sibella allowed Wayne Nix — a former minor-league baseball participant identified by Sibella to function an unlawful sports-betting enterprise — to gamble hundreds of thousands of {dollars} on the MGM Grand from August 2017 by means of February 2019.
Sibella had already pleaded responsible in January 2024 in federal court docket for violating the Financial institution Secrecy Act in relation to the identical allegation. Based on that anti-money laundering statute, Sibella was required to file a suspicious transaction report following every incident of wagering by Nix that he was conscious of.
Sibella was sentenced in Could to at least one yr’s probation and a $9,500 nice.
His settlement with the NGCB shields Sibella from harsher potential penalties, comparable to a prolonged authorized battle and a lifetime ban — although it’s onerous to think about any Nevada on line casino ever providing him one other management submit after this ban.
Sibella additionally agreed to a nice of $10K, which is able to fund the prices of the NGCB investigation.
Earlier than turning into official, the settlement should nonetheless be accredited by the Nevada Gaming Fee, the NGCB’s regulation enforcement arm.
A Resorts World of Bother
Resorts World. (Picture: Resorts World Las Vegas)
Although the criticism solely coated his tenure on the MGM Grand, regulators agreed that the settlement would additionally cowl Sibella for any potential violations he dedicated whereas presiding over Resorts World.
The Genting Berhad-owned on line casino is at the moment the topic of a separate, 12-count disciplinary criticism from the NGCB whose decision has but to be publicly introduced. (Resorts World was initially given till December 9 to answer the criticism.)
Filed on August 15, that criticism charged the on line casino resort with failing to stick to and implement anti-money laundering legal guidelines. It beneficial that the Nevada Gaming Fee “take motion” towards Resorts World’s gaming “license(s), registrations, and/or findings of suitability.”
Since opening in 2021, Resorts World has served as a backdrop for a collection of playing scandals. These scandals resulted in arrests and federal convictions for the sports activities bookmakers Edwin Ting, Chad Iwamoto and, most famously, Mathew Bowyer.
Bowyer, a Southern California bookie, accepted wagers from Ippei Mizuhara, the previous interpreter for LA Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani, who stole $16 million from Ohtani to repay his playing money owed.
Investigators consider that Mizuhara deposited money into accounts at Resorts World and Pechanga Resort On line casino, a tribal gaming venue in Southern California. That money was used for on line casino chips and when the chips had been cashed in, the proceeds had been directed to Bowyer.
Bowyer, who admitted to laundering cash by means of different individuals’s financial institution accounts and operating the unlawful operation for 5 years, is scheduled to be sentenced on February 7, 2025.
