https://brobible.com/sports/article/casino-fined-shohei-ohtani-interpreter-money-laundering-case/

The Resorts World casino in Las Vegas was given a $10.5 million fine over its connection to a money laundering scheme involving Shohei Ohtani’s former assistant, Ippei Mizuhara. The fine issued by the Nevada Gaming Commission was the second-largest in the state’s history.

Last year, the Nevada Gaming Control Board filed a complaint against the Resorts World casino and its parent company, Malaysia-based conglomerate Genting Berhad, for allowing gamblers with ties to illegal bookmaking and people with a history of gambling-related felony convictions to make wagers at the casino. One of those illegal bookmakers that bet at Resorts World was Mathew Bowyer. Former Major League Baseball Japanese-language interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was among Bowyer’s clients.

Mizuhara was sentenced to 57 months for bank fraud and filing a false tax return in February after admitting to stealing nearly $17 million from Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani to pay his gambling debts.

Six of the 10 counts (originally there were 12) in the Nevada Gaming Control Board complaint involved Mathew Bowyer and/or his wife Nicole Bowyer. Mathew Bowyer gambled at Resorts World lost over $6.6 million in approximately 15 months while Resorts World’s compliance committee repeatedly failed to establish his source of funds, the Associated Press reports. Mathew Bowyer is currently awaiting sentencing, while state gaming regulators have yet to adjudicate his wife Nicole’s complaint. She reportedly earned more than $667,000 from her husband’s gambling activity at Resorts World during 2022 and 2023.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that as part of the $10.5 million settlement, Resorts World and Genting will not confirm or deny the allegations made in the complaint, will implement stricter anti-money laundering protocols, and will make changes in company leadership. Scott Sibella, Resorts World’s president and chief operating officer from 2019 to 2023, pleaded guilty in January 2024 to a federal charge of failing to properly adhere to anti-money laundering regulations while his was president of the MGM Grand, where he worked prior to taking the job at Resorts World.