The Venetian fined $7.2m in Nevada over AML failures tied to bookmaker Mathew Bowyer

The Nevada Gaming Commission has approved a settlement that forces The Venetian to pay a $7.2m fine and tighten its anti-money-laundering controls after violations linked to convicted bookmaker Mathew Bowyer. For high-risk PSPs, the useful part is the mechanism: the issue was not just money moving through the property, but the failure to escalate known bookmaker activity inside the AML programme.

1. The Nevada Gaming Commission voted 3-0 to approve the settlement, with commissioners Richard Schonfeld and George Markantonis recusing themselves. The agreement requires The Venetian’s current owners to strengthen AML procedures after the Nevada Gaming Control Board said the property failed to act on information its host had about Bowyer.
2. According to the regulator, Bowyer deposited more than $22.3m at The Venetian between 2019 and 2021, wagered millions, and lost at least $3.6m. The board said the casino host knew Bowyer was an illegal bookmaker but did not report that information as required under the property’s AML programme.
3. The settlement goes beyond the fine. The Venetian must maintain or increase AML compliance staffing for at least two years, regularly review its policies, complete comprehensive AML training within 60 days, appoint a person responsible for the program, and join FinCEN’s Section 314(b) information-sharing program.
4. The $7.2m penalty equals twice Bowyer’s losses at the casino and reflects prior enforcement actions involving his activity. Las Vegas casinos have now faced $34m in combined fines tied to Bowyer, including $10.5m against Resorts World, $8.5m against MGM Resorts, and $7.8m against Caesars Entertainment.
5. The Venetian complex, which includes the Palazzo and Venetian Expo, was acquired by Apollo from Las Vegas Sands in February 2022 in a $6.25bn transaction. Nevada Gaming Control Board Chair Mike Dreitzer said most of Bowyer’s activity happened before Apollo acquired the property and secured a new gaming licence, while The Venetian’s lawyer said only $88,000 of Bowyer’s $3.6m loss came after the takeover.

Bowyer was banned from The Venetian on March 11, 2024, because of money-laundering concerns. For operators and their banking partners, the filing is another reminder that “we knew he was a bookmaker” is the sort of sentence that tends to become expensive once a regulator reads it.