Resorts World fields ‘dream team' as Gaming Commission signs off on $10.5 million fine

Yahoo

28-03-2025

Resorts World Las Vegas board members A.G. Burnett (far left), Jim Murren (center), and former Gov. Brian Sandoval (far right) face Nevada Gaming Commission. (Photo: Dana Gentry/Nevada Current)
The Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday agreed to a stipulated agreement and $10.5 million fine against Resorts World Las Vegas, which faced multiple counts of failing to comply with anti-money laundering laws by allowing known illegal sports bookies to gamble on dozens of occasions.
'We've got a dream team of governance on the board here in front of us today. You've all had extensive Wikipedia pages,' Gaming Commissioner and former Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki gushed of the newly-minted Resorts World board of directors seated in the front row – former Gov. Brian Sandoval (who Krolicki served under as Lt. Gov.), former Gaming Control Board chairman A.G. Burnett, and former MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren.
Resorts World attorney Erica Okerberg called the revamped leadership 'Resorts World 2.0.'
The new board is intended to right the $4.3 billion listing ship that opened on the Las Vegas Strip in 2021.
The Current was first to report in 2023 that the Criminal Division of the Internal Revenue Service was investigating Resorts World and MGM Grand for alleged anti-money laundering violations.
The IRS settled its case last year with MGM, which paid a $7.45 million fine. Former MGM Grand president Scott Sibella, who later became president of Resorts World, was fired by Resorts World weeks after the Current broke the news of the investigation. Sibella later pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of failing to file federal anti-money laundering reports.
Nevada gaming regulators subsequently filed a complaint against Resorts World, and resolved a complaint against Sibella by revoking his gaming license for five years.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board (GCB) 'found that the violations alleged in its amended complaint are particularly egregious, warranting a substantial penalty and significant changes at Resorts World,' Darlene Caruso, who represents the commission on behalf of the Nevada Attorney General's Office, told gaming commissioners.
'It's breathtaking,' Krolicki said of the GCB complaint against Resorts World. 'The lack of control, the lack of reward of open culture,' that extended from the casino floor 'to the C suites, and I'll argue, even beyond Las Vegas, was truly extraordinary.'
Resorts World Las Vegas is owned by Genting Assets, a Malaysian conglomerate.
The stipulated agreement states Resorts World 'believed it was operating within industry standards and norms' and does not accept responsibility for the alleged violations.
'I'm surprised by that a little bit, just given the posture that it's in,' Commissioner Rosa-Solis Rainey said. 'They fell down on the job. I don't think there can be any reasonable dispute about that from anybody. This is not a situation where information wasn't available to them. It was there and leadership chose to ignore it.'
'I don't know who is denying liability and pays $10.5 million. It's not a thing, usually,' observed Commission Chairperson Jennifer Togliatti.
'Personally, I feel the fine is on the low side,' Solis-Rainey said, adding she'd vote in favor of the stipulation because of the 'extensive efforts' the company has taken and 'tremendous expenses' it has and will incur as it imposes corrective action.
The GCB, in its settlement with Resorts World, reserves the right to take additional disciplinary action in the event the Department of Justice or Department of Treasury takes any criminal, civil, or administrative action against the casino.
During public comment, high-stakes professional gambler R.J. Cipriani told the commission that 'harassment and intimidation' by Resorts World executives led to his 'unwarranted arrest, multiple bogus felony charges and wrongful exclusion from the property.'
Cipriani said he turned to the Criminal Division of the IRS and other federal authorities in California because he was ignored by Sibella, Genting chairman K.T. Lim, and then-Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, who is now governor of Nevada.
Federal authorities have yet to file a complaint against Resorts World but are said to be negotiating a non-prosecution agreement and fine with the casino, according to sources close to the case. Murren and Burnett declined to comment following the commission meeting.
'I believe this will be a wonderful fix and a new pivot for Resorts World,' Krolicki said, calling the agreement a 'clarion call up and down the street that AML (anti-money laundering), compliance audits, all of these things we talk about all the time – we really mean it. Nevada is a best in class, you know, whatever we want to call it, regulatory environment.'
Although the fine, second in size only to the $20 million fine imposed against Wynn Las Vegas for its namesake's sexual encounters with employees, was criticized by some as insufficient, 'I don't think it's for us to tweak' the fine, Krolicki said. 'I accept the hard work that was done with the GCB. I never wanna do this again.'
Gaming Commissioner and former Nevada Supreme Court Justice Abbi Silver recused herself from the vote because of her 'long-standing friendship' with Sibella, adding Sibella, while president, was a member of the casino's anti-money laundering compliance committee. The personal relationship, she said, 'would materially affect the independent judgment of a reasonable person in the situation.'