Casino and gaming industry has always been a source of many interesting and at the same time some not so ethical news. In a recent incident which has been reported and now being under investigation where Nevada gaming regulators are investigating reports that casino operator Las Vegas Sands allowed the use of Shills to conceal the identities of Chinese VIP gamblers. Las Vegas Sands Corp Casinos allowed some high stakes Chinese players to bet millions of dollars using other people’s names according to people who are directly familiar with the investigation.
Now The Nevada Gaming Control Board is investigating the case and Ron Reese a Sands spokesman said about Nevada Gaming Control Board that ; “has made inquiries related to this matter and we’ve responded in a timely and transparent matter, as we always do.”
Las Vegas has always been a favorite destination of the rich and famous and there is certainly no doubt about it. It draws wealthy Chinese baccarat players. Some casinos thus have allowed high stake players to gamble through a front man who would sign the credit paperwork so that these players can play and bet as per an investigation published by Reuters last month.
Even last year allegation against the Sands surfaced after Clark Country prosecutors brought charges against two women accused of failing to repay millions of dollars n gambling debts at the Las Vegas Sands Venetian and Palazzo casinos. As per the Attorney’s of the women, Jeffrey Setness and Kevin Rosenberg said that the two were actually shills; local housekeepers recruited with the cooperation of Sands personnel to take out millions of dollars in credit in their own names. Then the women would sit near the actual players allowing them to use the chips and gamble millions of dollars without a paper trail.
In the further investigation, it is revealed that the two women were reportedly recruited by Chinese Junker operators to be a part of a rotating cast of shills that allowed publicity shy VIP gamblers to fly under the regulatory radar. As per the claims made by both the women they have been assured that they wouldn’t be held liable for the IOUs if the actual gamblers proved unwilling or unable to honor his marker.
Now GCB is closely monitoring Sands activities as this isn’t the first time they have probed Sands activities both home and abroad. In May, the GCB has fined Sands $2m for two counts of violating the terms of its Nevada gaming license.
