A longtime casino executive pleaded guilty to violating federal anti-money laundering rules after approving of high stakes gambling involving a person he knew was running a large-scale illegal sports betting operation.
Scott Sibella, the former president of MGM Grand in Las Vegas, now faces a $250,000 fine and up to five years in prison. Former minor league baseball player Wayne Nix was the man behind the bookmaking operation and brought $120,000 to the MGM Grand to gamble. That incident later became part of a wide-ranging federal investigation.
“You have individuals at a highly regulated business who know better—not just looking away but contributing to his illegal gambling business by doing client referrals,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph T. McNally told the Wall Street Journal.
Lack of Oversight, Deals Reached
Beyond the money laundering concerns, federal investigators say that Nix used his relationship with Sibella to grow the betting operation. Authorities also charged that Nix used professional athletes to run the enterprise. He and several associates pleaded guilty to running an illegal gambling operation and other crimes in 2022.
Court documents note that Sibella treated Nix like a VIP, with free hotel stays, meals, and golf excursions with company executives. The events also functioned as a recruitment opportunity for Nix to engage new bettors in the process.
“Nix used casino golf trips to recruit new sports bettors from MGM Grand’s other high-rollers,” the Journal noted. “In January 2019, Nix told Sibella that an MGM Grand customer – whom Sibella knew – had placed a $5 million bet on the Super Bowl through Nix’s business.”
Nix and his associates began the business about 20 years ago and used a website based in Costa Rica, funneling bets through the website. Nix also pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return and another person involved in the scheme failed to report $1.5 million in earnings to the IRS.
“Through his contacts in the sports world, Nix developed a client list that included current and former professional athletes, and he employed three former Major League Baseball players to assist with the business,” prosecutors noted.
Authorities said that Sibella and other casino hosts knew that Nix obtained his money used to gamble through illegal means. Casinos must file suspicious activity reports when such incidents occur, but Sibella kept letting Nix and his associates gamble at high levels with alerting federal authorities, according to court documents.
MGM Resorts paid $7.5 million in fines as part of a nonprosecution agreement with the Justice Department for actions at not only at MGM Grand, but also at The Cosmopolitan. The company agreed to put more protections and compliance procedures in place to help prevent additional money laundering concerns.
After leaving MGM Grand, Sibella went on to become president of Resorts World Las Vegas casino in 2019. In September, he was forced out of that position after the property noted that he had “violated company policies and the terms of his employment.” With the plea agreement, Sibella admitted to making mistakes but said he didn’t benefit in any way financially from Nix’s play.
“I take full responsibility for my actions and inactions, but I must make clear I took no action for my personal benefit or inurement,” Sibella said.
