- Wynn hosts helped underground bankers transfer prison money.
- New particulars present cartel-linked cash funneled by high-roller playing.
- Undercover sting reveals prostitution-tied money delivered to on line casino purchasers.
In September 2024, the Wynn Las Vegas agreed to forfeit $130 million underneath a federal non-prosecution settlement for conspiring with unlicensed money-transmitting companies and failing to take care of ample anti-money-laundering (AML) safeguards. It was the biggest such forfeiture ever imposed on a US on line casino.
The Wynn Las Vegas, above, was topic to an enormous federal settlement over illicit cash-delivery schemes. A CNN investigation discovered that some workers helped underground bankers transfer illicit funds by the property. (Picture: Shutterstock)
Now, new particulars uncovered by a CNN investigation reveal the mechanics behind the misconduct. This contains the complicity of some Wynn VIP hosts in facilitating cash laundering for underground Chinese language banks with doable hyperlinks to drug cartels, prostitution networks, and human-smuggling rings.
On the coronary heart of the scheme have been a handful of San Diego federal instances in opposition to 4 Las Vegas-based Chinese language nationals: Lei Zhang, Bing Han, Liang Zhou and Fan Wang.
All 4 pleaded responsible by 2020 to working an unlicensed cash transmitting enterprise that catered largely to Chinese language gamblers who wanted US money to play in Las Vegas casinos, in response to court docket data.
Money Pipeline
Zhang collected bulk US foreign money from third events and delivered it to gamblers in america, in response to these data. Investigators interviewed by CNN mentioned the suppliers of the money might have included prostitution rings, human-smuggling networks, and Mexican drug cartels.
The gamblers, in flip, transferred an equal quantity of yuan through Chinese language cell banking apps to accounts managed by Zhang or his associates. This allowed the transactions to bypass each US monetary reporting necessities and Chinese language capital-outflow controls.
Zhang admitted he was usually launched to clients by on line casino hosts at Wynn and elsewhere. In response to his sentencing memo and Justice Division statements, hosts stood to profit by elevated money play by high-roller purchasers and typically acquired a reduce of his fee.
The Wynn hosts communicated with the lads tons of of instances per week, in response to cellphone data cited within the CNN investigation
A associated responsible plea submitting for Wang says he, too, was usually launched to clients by on line casino hosts, who knew the gamers wanted money to maintain playing.
Lodge Room Sting
In Might 2019, an spy posing as a gambler organized to satisfy Zhang inside a Las Vegas lodge room, in response to investigators interviewed by CNN.
Zhang arrived clutching a satchel and accompanied by a girl whom investigators described as a “madam” overseeing prostitution.
When brokers entered the room, they discovered 4 brick-sized stacks of money totaling roughly $150K. Investigators instructed CNN the girl had introduced a portion of the money as a result of it allegedly got here from her prostitution enterprise and he or she needed to oversee the handoff.
Zhang was later sentenced to fifteen months in jail and ordered to forfeit $150K. The three others additionally agreed to forfeit tons of of hundreds of {dollars}, in response to DOJ releases.
Investigators mentioned proof from the 4 Las Vegas instances helped inform the federal probe that culminated in Wynn’s 2024 settlement. The DOJ’s settlement additionally cited earlier misconduct relationship again to 2014, together with “flying cash” transfers and proxy playing schemes involving overseas patrons.
Drug Cash
US officers have warned that this model of underground banking, dominated by Chinese language brokers, is the popular technique for Mexican drug cartels to dump bulk money income from fentanyl and different medicine. Prosecutor Mark Pletcher estimated the underground-banking downside was “within the nine-figure vary” yearly.
Wynn says the conduct was historic, that implicated workers have been terminated, and that the corporate has since strengthened inner controls. The operator additionally pointed to new compliance staffing and an impartial oversight committee created after the federal investigation.
Along with the federal forfeiture, the Nevada Gaming Management Board fined Wynn $5.5 million in Might 2025 for state-level AML violations tied to the identical infractions.
