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The Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) on Thursday (April 24) voted to fine MGM Resorts International $8.5m to settle a state gaming regulator's complaint over money laundering in which a former executive allowed illegal bookmakers to gamble millions and pay debts in cash at two Las Vegas properties.
The settlement completes disciplinary action relating to former MGM Grand president Scott Sibella and two casino hosts, who were aware that the two bookmakers were playing at the MGM Grand and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and operating illegal sports-betting businesses.
Nine of the ten counts in the complaint and settlement issued on April 17 by the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) dealt with the gambling activities of former minor league baseball player and convicted illegal bookmaker Wayne Nix. The tenth count dealt with the actions of a second convicted illegal bookmaker, Mathew Bowyer.
In a statement, the NGCB wrote that the agency focused its investigation on the activities of Nix, but Bowyer’s activities “were discovered by the [control board] during the course of its investigation.”
The complaint accused MGM of permitting Nix and Bowyer to gamble from 2015 to 2018 at the two Las Vegas casinos.
Nix and Bowyer pleaded guilty to federal illegal gambling charges in southern California in 2018 and 2024, respectively.
Sibella, who was fired as president of Resorts World Las Vegas in 2023, had his gaming license revoked by the commission and was placed on the NGCB’s so-called “Grey List” of denied gaming applicants who were found unsuitable. Sibella also received a five-year ban from applying to reenter the state’s gaming industry and a $10,000 fine.
MGM Resorts also agreed to pay a $7.45m fine last year as part of a non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors over the actions of Sibella, other company executives, and registered casino hosts for failures to comply with the company’s anti-money laundering (AML) compliance programs.
Sibella pleaded guilty last year in a Los Angeles federal court to violating the federal Bank Secrecy Act in connection with the federal illegal bookmaking investigation from his time at MGM. He was placed on probation for a year and fined $9,500.
“I want to emphasize a couple of points,” Scott Scheer, an attorney with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, who represented MGM at Thursday’s commission meeting. "One, all these events occurred five or more years ago. We also believe that MGM had a good AML program in place.”
“But obviously,” Scheer said, “it wasn’t good enough, and relied too heavily on employees to follow their training [and] do the right thing. All culpable employees have either left the company voluntarily before these issues came to light or have been terminated.”
According to the NGCB complaint, MGM executives had suspicions about Bowyer’s source of income as early as 2015 and were notified by a customer in 2018 that Bowyer was attempting to poach gamblers from the company’s casinos.
In April 2018, the 29-page complaint alleges, an MGM customer wrote in an email to a corporate host that his casino hosts may be sharing information about him with Bowyer, including an allegation that “Mr. Bowyer is attempting to steal clients from … MGM, hence he is in the illegal bookmaking business and [the casino host] is funneling MGM sportsbook clients to Mr. Bowyer.”
The email was forwarded to two casino marketing managers; however, it was not reported to MGM compliance executives, the NGCB complaint states.
As for Nix, the NGCB complaint states that Sibella, as then MGM Grand president, “approved complimentary rooms, food service and event tickets for Nix, and invited [him] on marketing trips to encourage him to gamble at the MGM Grand.”
“With respect to this matter, it is very unfortunate,” John McManus, MGM Resorts' chief legal and administrative officer, said. “This is how long it goes back. I remember speaking with chair [Brin] Gibson at the time about the receipt of the [federal] subpoena because it was not a matter that was known to us until we received the subpoena.”
McManus described the individuals involved as “former employees who made poor decisions and mistakes that all of them paid a significant price for”. He told the commission that he believes MGM "had and continues to have an effective compliance and specifically AML program”.
MGM is the largest employer in Nevada, but commissioner Brian Krolicki said that “doesn’t change what we need to do today, but it’s certainly appreciated the important presence and muscle you bring to the state economically.”
Commissioner Rosa Solis-Rainey expressed concern that the control board knew the identities of the people identified in the complaint as Host A, Host B and the executive director of compliance.
“To me, it’s important that we as regulators understand who those people are, so that they’re not just getting passed from property to property,” Solis-Rainey said. “I mean, [the casino] host seems to be an issue.”
“You’re never going to be able to create a perfect system of compliance where it is going to take into account those people who are willfully just undermining you,” she added. “But to the extent that we’re not taking action against … the other bad actors, if you will, I think it’s important that they be known to the board.”
Citing a longtime friendship with Sibella, commissioner Abbi Silver recused herself from the vote. The commission voted 4-0 to approve the settlement.
Still unresolved is a complaint against Nicole Bowyer, Mathew Bowyer’s wife, who was working as an independent agent on behalf of Resorts World and encouraging customers to play at the resort. She received payment from the casino based on a player’s losses.
In January, the five-member commission opted to strike down the initial NGCB complaint against her that recommended a five-year ban, as commissioners wanted to see her fined or possibly receive a lifetime ban as an independent agent.
