The Venetian has agreed to pay a $7.2 million fine in the Bowyer case
This is a long-running story. Bowyer gambled at the casino for many years, whilst the operators repeatedly turned a blind eye to the source of his funds. Now the casinos themselves are paying the price.
What the regulator decided
The Nevada Gaming Control Board filed a settlement agreement and a four-point complaint on 25 June. The Nevada Independent was the first to report on the fine. This new case is almost a repeat of last year’s incidents involving Resorts World Las Vegas, MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment.
All four casinos failed to verify the source of Bowyer’s funds. And none of them banned him, even though they suspected, and in some cases knew full well, about his illegal bookmaking activities. If The Venetian’s fine is approved, the four casinos together will pay Nevada $34 million.
How the figure was arrived at
The size of the fine is linked to the casino’s profits from Bowyer. According to the complaint, between 2019 and 2021, Bowyer made around 30 visits to The Venetian, deposited $22.3 million and lost $3.6 million. The $7.2 million fine is double that profit.
A year earlier, when Caesars was fined $7.8 million, the regulators explained that this was triple the $2.6 million profit made from the bookmaker. In this way, the authorities wish to demonstrate that the revenue derived from breaches must not exceed the penalty imposed for them. The Venetian, meanwhile, admitted to every point in the complaint. MGM and Caesars also pleaded guilty in their respective cases, whereas Resorts World did not.
What the casino staff knew
The four allegations against The Venetian include a failure to establish the source of Bowyer’s funds, a refusal to ban him, the host’s failure to fulfil their duty to report him to management, and a failure to conduct an investigation.
According to the complaint, Bowyer’s host had direct knowledge of his bookmaking activities. In 2019 and 2020, Bowyer asked the host for leads on clients for his illegal operation and promised to reward him in return. As early as 2019, the account manager had reported some concerns to senior management regarding the source of Bowyer’s funds, but an internal audit in May of that year cleared up these concerns. The regulators described this as the first of several instances in which information about suspicious activity was simply ignored.
What this means for the market
The case illustrates the high cost of lax scrutiny of major players’ sources of funds. The Venetian even commissioned an in-depth audit from an external contractor in 2021, which highlighted serious concerns regarding the origin of Bowyer’s funds. However, operations were not suspended until October 2023, when it emerged that they were under investigation in connection with the Resorts World case.
This sends a clear signal to the industry. Nevada’s regulators are prepared to penalise even the largest Strip casinos if they turn a blind eye to obvious red flags for the sake of profit from a wealthy client. The Bowyer case has become a prime example of how convenient explanations regarding the source of funds end up costing operators far more than simply turning away a suspicious guest.