Marina Bay Sands, one of Singapore’s two integrated casino resorts, is being investigated by the U.S. Department of the Interior over whether it has breached anti-money laundering regulations in the way it handled VIP players’ accounts, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
The property is owned by Las Vegas casino powerhouse Las Vegas Sands.
In January, the Justice Department issued a grand jury subpoena to a former compliance chief of Marina Bay Sands Pte, Las Vegas Sands’ subsidiary that manages its Singapore casino resort. The federal department sought an interview or documents indicating “money laundering facilitation” and any other form of abuse of internal financial rules and controls, according to a copy of the subpoena obtained by Bloomberg.
The resort’s former compliance head was asked to produce records that could have been related to any violations, including through casino junkets and third-party casino credit extending to gamblers.
According to sources the probe is also seeking to uncover whether there was retaliation against whistleblowers.
Marina Bay Sands opened doors in 2010 as one of Singapore’s two casino resorts. The mega-complex is one of the most profitable properties of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region and the world, as a whole.
It accounts for more than a fifth of revenue and about a third of operating income at Las Vegas Sands. Last year, Marina Bay Sands and Las Vegas Sands’ Macau casinos contributed nearly 85% of the gaming and hospitality giant’s reported revenue of $13.7 billion.
Subpoena Seeks Information about One More Employee
According to Bloomberg, the subpoena seeks information about one more former Marina Bay Sands employee, who sources said handled money transfers to high roller casino players.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Las Vegas could not confirm or deny the ongoing probe into Marina Bay Sands’ high roller financial procedures. The gambling venue told Bloomberg that “any suggestion of inappropriate activity is taken seriously” and that it has investigated thoroughly any such assertions.
The mega-resort is also under investigation by the Singapore Casino Regulatory Authority. The gaming watchdog is probing the property over its money transfer policies. A spokesperson for the regulator could not provide further comment on the topic, saying the investigation is ongoing.
The probe was launched after last year Wang Xi, a Chinese gambler who used to frequent Marina Bay Sands, filed a lawsuit against the resort, seeking to recover S$9.1 million ($6.6 million) he claimed the casino transferred to other patrons without receiving his explicit authorization.
The unauthorized transfers reportedly took place between October and December 2015. Mr. Wang claimed that the money was moved from his casino deposit accounts to other players’ accounts in 22 transactions.
News emerged last month that the Singapore Police Force is, too, investigating Mr. Wang’s complaint.
The Singapore casino regulator urged Marina Bay Sands to review its third-party transfer processes. Such third-party transfers, if authorized, are deemed legal and are often used by groups of casino patrons to share winnings and losses at different overseas casinos. The transfers are sometimes handled by junket operators.
After conducting an internal probe into the issue, Marina Bay Sands uncovered that employees violated procedures by filling in payment details on pre-signed or photo-copied authorization forms. There were also cases in which original documents were destroyed, a source familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
A spokesperson for the resort said that its review into the matter “concluded that no patron funds were transferred in a manner that was contrary to a patron’s intent.”
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