Wynn Resorts Pays $130 Million for Letting Illegal Money Go to Vegas Strip Casino Gamblers

Casino company Wynn Resorts Ltd. has agreed to pay $130 million to federal authorities and admit it allowed unlicensed money transfer companies around the world to wire funds to players at its flagship Las Vegas Strip property.

The publicly traded company said a non-prosecution agreement reached last week represented a monetary figure identified by the US Department of Justice as “funds involved in the transactions at issue” at the Wynn Las Vegas resort.

In statements to the media and the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said the seizure was not a fine and that the findings in the decade-long case did not amount to money laundering.

U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath of San Diego said the settlement shows casinos are responsible if they let foreign customers evade U.S. laws. She said $130 million is believed to be the largest seizure by a casino “based on an admission of criminal wrongdoing.”

Wynn Resorts said it had severed ties with all people and companies involved in what the government characterized as “complicated transactions” overseas.

“Several former employees facilitated the use of unlicensed money transmitter companies that violated both our internal policies and the law, and for which we take responsibility,” the company said in a statement to The Associated Press on Saturday.

In its press release, the Justice Department detailed several methods it said were used to transfer money between Wynn Las Vegas and people in China and other countries.

One, called “Flying Money,” involved an unlicensed money agent using multiple foreign bank accounts to transfer money to the casino for use by a patron who could not otherwise access cash in the U.S.

Another involved a person called the “Human Head” betting at the casino at the direction of another person who was unwilling or unable to bet due to anti-money laundering and other laws.

The Justice Department said an individual, acting as an independent agent for the casino, made more than 200 money transfers totaling nearly $18 million through bank accounts controlled by Wynn Las Vegas “or related entities” on behalf of more than 50 foreign casino patrons.

Wynn Resorts called its settlement with the government the final step in a six-year effort to “put our legacy issues fully behind us and focus on our future.” The SEC filing noted that the investigation began around 2014.

He did not use the name of former CEO Steve Wynn. But since 2018, the parent company has been embroiled in legal issues surrounding his departure after allegations of sexual misconduct against him were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Lawyers for Wynn in Las Vegas did not return messages Saturday about the company’s settlement.

Wynn, now 82 and living in Florida, said he no longer has ties to the namesake company. He has consistently denied committing sexual abuse.

The billionaire developer of a luxury casino empire in Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Mississippi and the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau resigned from Wynn Resorts after the reports became public, divested the company of shares and left the corporate board.

Last year, in a settlement with Nevada gambling regulators, he agreed to cut ties with the industry he helped build in Las Vegas and pay a $10 million fine. He has admitted no wrongdoing.

In 2019, the Nevada Gaming Commission fined Wynn Resorts a record $20 million for failing to investigate sexual misconduct allegations made against him before he resigned. Massachusetts gambling regulators fined the company and a top executive $35.5 million for failing to disclose allegations of sexual misconduct against Wynn as it applied for a license for the Encore Boston Harbor resort . The company has not admitted wrongdoing.

Wynn Resorts agreed in November 2019 to accept $20 million in damages from Wynn and $21 million from insurance carriers to settle shareholder lawsuits accusing company executives of failing to disclose allegations of wrongdoing.

The Justice Department said Friday that as part of its investigation, 15 people previously admitted to money laundering, unlicensed money transmission or other crimes, paying more than $7.5 million in criminal penalties.

Wynn Resorts noted in its statement that its non-prosecution agreement with the government does not address money laundering.

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