TLDR
- The Venetian Las Vegas agreed to a $7.2 million fine for anti-money laundering violations tied to convicted bookmaker Mathew Bowyer.
- The Nevada Gaming Control Board filed the settlement and a four-count complaint on June 25.
- The Venetian is the fourth Las Vegas Strip casino fined over Bowyer, joining Resorts World, MGM Resorts, and Caesars Entertainment.
- Bowyer gambled at the Venetian from 1999 to 2024, with the investigation focused mainly on 2019 to 2024.
- The four casinos combined will pay $34 million in fines if the Venetian settlement is approved.
The Venetian Las Vegas has agreed to pay a $7.2 million fine for failing to follow anti-money laundering rules connected to Mathew Bowyer. Bowyer is a convicted illegal bookmaker who was banned from Nevada casinos earlier this year.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board filed the settlement agreement along with a four-count complaint on June 25. The Nevada Independent first reported the news.
The Venetian is now the fourth Las Vegas Strip casino punished over its dealings with Bowyer. Resorts World Las Vegas, MGM Resorts, and Caesars Entertainment were all fined last year for similar failures.
What Bowyer Did
Bowyer pleaded guilty in August 2024 to money laundering and filing false tax returns. He was released from federal prison and later added to Nevada’s banned patron list, known as the “black book,” in April.
That listing can keep him out of every casino in the state for life.
According to the complaint, Bowyer gambled at the Venetian from 1999 through 2024. Investigators focused mainly on the period between 2019 and 2024.
That stretch covers both the casino’s current owner, Apollo Global Management, and its former owner, Las Vegas Sands. Apollo bought the Venetian’s operations from Sands for $2.25 billion in a deal that closed in early 2022.
The Venetian and the Gaming Control Board said they will not comment further until the Nevada Gaming Commission reviews the case on August 20. Sands also declined to comment.
Terms of the Settlement
The Venetian admitted to every allegation in the complaint. As part of the deal, the casino agreed to seven license conditions.
These include added employee training, regular reviews of its anti-money laundering policies, and closer work with state regulators.
The $7.2 million fine appears tied to the casino’s profits from Bowyer. The complaint says he made about 30 trips to the Venetian between 2019 and 2021, depositing $22.3 million and losing $3.6 million.
That fine roughly doubles what the casino made off him during that stretch. Caesars was fined $7.8 million last year, a figure regulators said tripled that casino’s $2.6 million profit from Bowyer.
The four counts against the Venetian include failing to identify Bowyer’s source of funds, failing to ban him, failing to report him internally, and failing to investigate him properly.
Records show a casino host raised concerns about Bowyer’s funds as early as 2019. An internal review that same year cleared him anyway.
The complaint also says Bowyer’s host knew about his illegal bookmaking and that Bowyer asked the host for betting referrals in exchange for favors.
Bowyer gave the casino false information about his income over the years, claiming ties to a turf company, a medical business, and other ventures. A third-party report in 2021 flagged his 2011 bankruptcy and a lack of public records on his finances.
The Venetian did not stop taking his business until October 2023, after learning he was under investigation in the Resorts World case. He was formally banned in March 2024.
If regulators approve the Venetian settlement, all four casinos will have paid a combined $34 million in fines tied to Bowyer.
