Las Vegas Sands has agreed to a $7.2M anti-money laundering settlement with the Nevada Gaming Control Board regarding compliance failures at The Venetian. The violations center on illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer and span the company’s final ownership years before its 2021 exit from the Las Vegas market.
Ownership Transition and Corporate Shift
The settlement concludes a turbulent decade for the operator, which sold The Venetian to Apollo Global Management in 2021. Following the divestiture, Las Vegas Sands shifted its focus to Macau and Singapore after expansion projects in Texas and New York stalled. Although the company maintains its headquarters in Las Vegas, it closed its digital gaming division last year and no longer operates casinos on the Strip.Investigation Findings and Historical Precedent
According to the NGCB investigation, Bowyer has been a Venetian patron since its 1999 opening. Between 2019 and 2021, he made 30 visits, deposited $22.3M, and lost $3.6M. Casino staff initially flagged concerns about his return in 2019, but an internal review permitted his continued play. A 2021 third-party due diligence report also raised red flags that management overlooked. The host assigned to Bowyer possessed "actual knowledge" of his bookmaking operations but did not file a report. The casino did not formally ban him until 2024, after Apollo assumed control. Bowyer’s compliance issues have triggered combined AML penalties totaling $34M across four separate Las Vegas properties.The current findings echo a 2013 compliance matter involving Zhenli Ye Gon, an alleged drug trafficker extradited to Mexico in 2016. Federal prosecutors noted that Ye Gon represented the largest all-cash, up-front wagering account in Venetian-Palazzo history during the early 2000s. Similar to the Bowyer case, the operator failed to verify his funding sources at that time.
The NGCB will forward the Venetian matter to the Nevada Gaming Commission for final review.