Venetian's $7.2M Bowyer Fine Caps Decade of Las Vegas Sands Scandals as Apollo Inherits Liability

The Venetian has agreed to a $7.2 million anti-money laundering fine with the Nevada Gaming Control Board over dealings with convicted illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer, bringing the total penalties tied to Bowyer’s activity to $34 million across four Strip operators.

Bowyer’s Activity at the Venetian

According to the complaint filed by the NGCB, Bowyer made approximately 30 trips to the resort between 2019 and 2021, depositing roughly $22.3 million, wagering millions, and losing at least $3.6 million. A casino host at the property had knowledge as early as 2019 or early 2020 that Bowyer was an illegal bookmaker but failed to report it, undermining the property’s AML program. Bowyer was not formally banned from the Venetian until March 2024, shortly after a federal raid on his California home.

The bulk of the violations occurred when Las Vegas Sands Corp. still owned the resort. However, Apollo Global Management, which acquired the Venetian’s operations from Sands in a $6.25 billion deal that closed in February 2022, assumed all relevant liabilities under successor liability rules. Apollo purchased the operations for $2.25 billion, while real estate investment trust Vici Properties paid $4 billion for the land. Venetian CEO Patrick Nichols signed the stipulated settlement; the Nevada Gaming Commission is expected to consider approval at its August 2025 meeting.

Bowyer pleaded guilty in 2024 to charges of running an illegal gambling business, money laundering, and filing a false tax return. He was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison in August 2025 and paroled in March 2026. In April prior to sentencing, he was added to Nevada’s “Black Book” of excluded persons. Bowyer’s notoriety soared after it was revealed he took thousands of bets from Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for MLB star Shohei Ohtani, who embezzled about $17 million from Ohtani to wager with Bowyer.

A Troubled Final Decade for Las Vegas Sands

The Bowyer case is the latest in a series of scandals that marked Sands’ last years in Las Vegas before its exit. In 2013, Sands forfeited $47.4 million to the U.S. government to avoid criminal prosecution over its failure to file suspicious activity reports for alleged drug trafficker Zhenli Ye Gon, who deposited $45 million in transfers and $13 million in cashier’s cheques at the Venetian between 2005 and 2007.

According to emails published by journalist Jon Ralston, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid intervened to help Sands secure that non-prosecution agreement. Reid’s deputy David Krone forwarded the forfeiture announcement; Reid responded, “Wouldn’t have happened without my help,” and confirmed Sands founder Sheldon Adelson had called to thank him. Both Reid and Adelson died in 2021.

Between the Ye Gon and Bowyer cases, Sands faced a separate ethics scandal. In 2016, Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt met with then-NGCB Chair A.G. Burnett to pressure the board into filing an amicus brief in the wrongful termination lawsuit filed by former Sands China CEO Steven Jacobs. Burnett secretly recorded the meeting and shared it with federal authorities, triggering a major political investigation. That same year, Sands settled the Jacobs lawsuit for more than $75 million, paid a $2 million fine to Nevada regulators for Ye Gon-related violations and accounting errors, and paid a separate $9 million fine to the SEC for inaccurate books and records regarding $62 million paid to a Chinese consultant.

Bowyer-related fines now total $34 million across four Las Vegas operators: $10.5 million from Resorts World Las Vegas, $8.5 million from MGM Resorts International, $7.8 million from Caesars Entertainment, and the $7.2 million from the Venetian.

Regulatory Response

NGCB Chairman Mike Dreitzer declined to comment on the specific settlement before the commission hearing but noted that the Bowyer case helped drive Nevada’s revised AML regulations in April 2025. “We heard and saw loud and clear that there were limitations and concerns with AML,” Dreitzer said. “The industry has seen that and resoundingly got around this culture of compliance and the need to put compliance over commerce. We believe these [regulations] will make real differences.”

Las Vegas Sands, which still maintains its headquarters in Las Vegas but now operates only in Macau and Singapore, did not respond to requests for comment. Apollo’s attorney declined to comment before the commission hearing.