Morality car wash
Resorts World Las Vegas in the dock over illegal gambling allegations
Nevada complaint suggests casino was complicit in illegal behavior.
In +More: VGW under sweepstakes pressure from Delaware.
Gambling opponents in Australia propose new ‘media levy’.
Missouri puts sports betting on the November ballot.
And the boss don't mind sometimes if you act the fool.
Charge sheet
Turning a blind eye: The Ohtani scandal continues to reverberate as Genting’s Resorts World Las Vegas property received a strongly worded disciplinary complaint issued by the Nevada Gaming Control Board over its dealings with illegal bookie Mathew Bowyer.
The complaint alleges Resorts World “failed to fulfill its responsibilities” as a Nevada licensee and by its “actions and inactions” caused damage to the Nevada industry’s reputation.
It said Resorts World “welcomed certain individuals to wager at its casino” when the casino either “knew, or should have known” they were illegal bookies with ties to organized crime.
The last Resorts: The complaint details how Resorts World hosted illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer, who earlier this month pleaded guilty to operating an unlawful gambling business, money laundering and subscribing to a false tax return.
It says Bowyer and three others were allowed to place millions of dollars in wagers for a number of months because Resorts World failed to adhere to its own AML policies.
“The culture within Resorts World created the perception, or the reality in certain instances, that Resorts World is an avenue to launder funds derived from illegal activity,” it added.
The NGCB investigation revealed a culture among Resorts World executives where information of suspicious or illegal activity was “at a minimum negligently disregarded or at worst willfully ignored for financial gain.”
The board also filed a complaint against Bowyer’s wife, Nicole Bowyer, who served as an independent agent contracted by Resorts World allowing her to profit from casino wagers she knew were sourced at least in part by illegal activity.
Suspicious minds: Recall, former Resorts World employee Scott Sibella pleaded guilty in January in a Los Angeles courtroom to a charge of failing to report suspicious activities in his previous employment at the MGM Grand.
A Resorts World statement said the company was “committed to doing business with the utmost integrity and in compliance with applicable laws and industry guidelines.”
The company now has the opportunity to respond to the complaint either via a hearing before the five-person Nevada Gaming Commission or through a negotiated settlement.
"The Nevada Gaming Control Board is committed to protecting the state of Nevada, its citizens and visitors, and Nevada's vital gaming industry," said NGCB chair Kirk Hendrick.
"All suspected violations of Nevada's gaming laws and regulations will be fully investigated and disciplinary action will be filed when warranted."
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Sweepstakes: The operator behind Chumba Casino, Luckyland and other sweepstakes casino brands, Virtual Gaming Worlds or VGW, has received a cease-and-desist letter from the authorities in Delaware and is reported to be considering pivoting towards a different revenue stream.
The Australian Financial Review last month said VGW had received a letter, a story confirmed this week by SBC Americas.
The Delaware news follows on from a similar cease-and-desist order from Michigan in December.
Meanwhile, a class action has been launched in Georgia alleging the company offers illegal gambling services.
Separately, VIXIO GamblingCompliance is reporting that the American Gaming Association is seeking a crackdown on sweepstakes given their resemblance to real-money gaming.
Macau money exchangers: The Macau authorities have performed a U-turn with casinos no longer having a limit on the number of money exchange counters allowed on the premises. The limit was removed in executive orders issued by Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng to take effect today, Tuesday.
The move follows a recent crackdown on illegal money exchanges in Macau by the local and mainland government.
Thai troubles: The casino IR effort in Thailand is in danger of being derailed after the country replaced the pro-casino Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin with Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra.
The political maneuverings come after one opposition party questioned the social and economic value of regulating casinos in the country.
“At a minimum, the change in government [leadership] will slow down the speed and process [of regulation],” Brendan Bussmann of B Global Advisors told GGRAsia.
Swedish authorities have said they may need more resources to deal with a rise in black market activity when the country’s last state-owned casinos close. Both police and regulatory figures in the Nordic territory said they expected a number of players who currently play at state-owned casinos to turn to underground alternatives, and will need stronger regulations to discourage illegal wagering.
Laws to tighten regulation of Ireland’s gambling sector will enter law before this government’s term has come to an end, according to senior government figures. Justice minister James Browne, who oversees gambling, said the Gambling Regulation Bill would complete its passage through the Oireachtas by mid-October.
Brown said “endless” lobbying from the racing, betting and gambling industries would not halt the progress of legislation, which will introduce stringent new advertising rules.
The proposal from a consortium led by developer SL Green and including Caesars Entertainment for a casino in Times Square, New York, has received the backing of 17 local labor unions.
Ontario: The provincial government is seeking an opinion from the Court of Appeal regarding whether regulated online gaming sites can legally allow gamblers in the province to play with people outside Canada.
"You could see, I think, a significant increase in the poker business in the province," Paul Burns, president and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, told CBC.
Online gaming companies claim many Ontario poker players are skipping the provincially regulated sites and opting for international ones in search of higher stakes games.
Sport integrity notebook
Notre Dame’s men’s swimming team has been suspended for the entire 2024-25 season due to gambling violations. A statement said an independent and external review “documented numerous violations of NCAA rules prohibiting gambling on intercollegiate swimming and other athletic competitions.”
+More careers
BetComply has appointed Loes Wetzer as operations director. Wetzer has over 20 years of experience in project management and compliance consulting.
Affiliate marketing compliance platform Rightlander has appointed Damir Garvanovic as solutions director.
iGaming Ontario executive director Martha Otton is retiring after four years in the position. The board has begun the search for her replacement.
Senior Compliance Manager – Cyprus
Compliance Assistant – St Albans, UK
Senior Legal / Compliance Specialist – Limassol, Cyprus
Oz ad ban shenanigans
Levy playing field: The latest twist in the fevered debate over whether Australia should have a total ad ban is that the gambling sector should make up the shortfall from the ad revenues lost to the media companies with a new levy.
The idea being put forward by ‘progressive’ think tank the Australia Institute has already found favor with the Australian Greens party.
The long and short of it: Stephen Long, a senior fellow at the Institute, said a 2.5% levy, which “represents a tiny fraction of the money lost on wagering,” could then “compensate the media for any lost revenue resulting from a gambling ads ban.”
He went on to tell The Guardian that the move would be a “rare win-win scenario.”
The policy would “reduce the harm to the community that gambling advertising causes, while simultaneously guaranteeing a revenue stream for public interest broadcasting.”
“The free-to-air networks could then sell the advertising slots the gambling companies occupied to other businesses while pocketing the levy as well.”
Wrecking ball: The Greens communication spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, added that gambling operators should “pay for the lives they are wrecking.”
The intervention comes as media reports suggested the government was considering proposals that would see gambling advertising severely restricted but not banned altogether.
Missouri ballot
Show me the way: Missouri voters will get the chance to approve the legalization of sports betting via a ballot in November, state officials have confirmed.
The news came after the Missouri Secretary of State's office confirmed a sufficient number of petition signatures had been collected to put a question to voters.
The petition initiative was launched by Winning for Missouri Education, which was formed by the state’s six professional sports teams with additional funding provided by DraftKings and FanDuel.
It managed to collect over 340k names, double the required 170k.
Polling conducted by Winning for Missouri Education suggested more than 60% of respondents are in favor of legalization.
“Missouri is now just one step away from joining most other states in legalizing sports betting and being able to provide millions of dollars to Missouri classrooms,” St. Louis Cardinals president Bill DeWitt said in a press release.
He added that the vote in November was the “right thing to do for both Missouri public schools and our favorite sports teams.”
Enough to go around: Under the plans outlined in the ballot proposal, B&M and OSB licenses would be issued to the 13 sports teams in the state with a further two untethered online licenses to be issued by the Missouri Gaming Commission. The tax rate would be 10%.
Previous efforts in the last three years to enact sports-betting legislation have foundered in the Senate. But this year, a bill failed to even make it to the House floor.
Cornhusker do
Nebraskans could join Missourians in voting on sports betting in November after the state legislature’s general affairs committee passed a constitutional amendment that would permit OSB operations within the state.
The amendment would need the say so of voters, but to get to that stage four-fifths of the Senate will need to vote in favor.
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Calendar
Sep 5: Sports Integrity Summit, São Paulo
Sep 10-13: European Conference on Gambling Studies, Rome
Sep 24-26: SBC Player Protection Summit, Lisbon
Oct 7-10, G2E, Las Vegas
Nov 5: Gaming in Germany, Berlin
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