Genting To Back Resorts World Las Vegas

As Resorts World Las Vegas (RWLV) finds itself in the middle of an anti-money laundering (AML) law violation controversy and the prospect of a hefty fine looks more and more like a reality, one thing seems to be clear: its owner, Malaysia-based Genting Berhad, will most likely continue providing it the needed financial support to pay the fine and continue operations.

This comes not long after SkyCity was in hot water for their own money laundering charges. We recently talked about their plans to help stop money laundering in our news blogs.

Resort World Las Vegas Faces Fines for Violating Federal AML Laws

RWLV is being investigated for violation of federal AML laws. The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB), in fact, filed a 12-count complaint running into 31 pages against RWLV and its owners, accusing them of allowing illegal bookmakers to place bets without disclosing the source of their funds.

Among the bookies who were the beneficiaries of this largesse is Mathew Bowyer, who is said to have allegedly bets running into millions of dollars from Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter of the Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.

Two other bookies have been named along with Bowyer – Edwin Ting and Chad Iwamoto. Both of them have faced federal convictions earlier for a number of crimes relating to illegal gambling. Ting, in fact, is said to have ties to organized crime as well.

In its complaint, the NGCB is believed to be seeking punitive measures against RWLV and its owners, including a hefty fine – the exact amount remains undisclosed at this point in time – and possible action against the gaming licenses that these entities hold.

Overall Lack of Control within RWLV, says NGCB in its Complain

In its complaint, the NGCB stated that there seemed to be an ‘overall lack of control with RWLV’ and also a tendency among its executives to either disregard negligently or willfully ignore any information that came along regarding suspicious or illegal gambling activities at the casino.

According to the NGCB, this could be because the resort's financial success was a direct contributor to the bonuses that the executives were offered.

Former RWLV President Scott Sibella Embroiled in Anti-AML Controversy?

At the center of the controversy could be former RWLV President Scott Sibella, as a majority of the violations are said to have happened when he was at the helm. Sibella was in fact fired in September 2023 after he pled guilty to federal charges of violating the Bank Secrecy Act when he was head of MGM Grand Las Vegas. He was subsequently sentenced in May 2024 and given probation.

The possibility of his involvement arises despite his name not featuring in the filing by the NGCB, mainly because of him being named in a 3-count filing by the NGCB in April 2024 based on the charges against the MGM Grand back then.

In January 2024, MGM Grand and the Cosmopolitan had to pay fines to the tune of $7.5 million for the alleged violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and of federal AML laws.

Genting to Support RWLV, Says S&P Global Ratings

While there has been no mention of the quantum of punishment that RWLV and its owner are likely to be subjected to, S&P Global Ratings, in an observation, said that Genting will likely continue its financial support ‘under almost all foreseeable circumstances’ for RWLV despite the situation it finds itself in.

The reason for this support may not be too hard to decipher if you consider one critical fact – RWLV is one of the 3 big names in the Genting portfolio, the other 2 being Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore and a flagship property in Malaysia, the Genting home base.

S&P surmised that there doesn’t seem to be any imminent danger of RWLV receiving a downgrade despite its current corporate credit rating of BB+. Genting has the needed financial resources to support that rating.

In its observation, S&P concluded, “The stable outlook on RWLV mirrors that on the parent, which in turn reflects our expectation that the company’s market position across its operations will translate into a stable operating performance, such that its ratio of funds from operations to debt remains above 30% over the next two years.”

Given that RWLV may seem to be Genting's toehold into Las Vegas, the continued financial support suddenly seems sensible. According to S&P, it also increases the likelihood of RWLV and Genting working with the NGCB to resolve their current issues.