Key Takeaways
Other companies have been contacted by federal authorities as well. Last year, Wynn Resorts said they were sent a letter from the IRS requesting information about their biggest customers, though they say the government hasn’t followed up in the matter.
The investigations haven’t been limited to Las Vegas casinos, either. In March, FinCEN levied a $10 million penalty against the Trump Taj Mahal after the casino admitted to similar lapses in anti-money laundering standards.
As for Caesars, the allegations are likely to end with the fine being the only tangible punishment for any lapses in their anti-money laundering policies. Given the size of the company, that shouldn’t be more than a blip on their financial reports.
“We expect that any financial penalties imposed upon Caesars Palace would not impact Caesars Entertainment’s financial results,” the company said.
However, the investigation may have had other implications for the company in the past. Back in 2013, Caesars was partnered with Suffolk Downs in an effort to bring a casino to East Boston.
But in October of that year, Caesars was dropped from the bid. Suffolk Downs said that the decision was based on the results of a Massachusetts Gaming Commission background investigation into Caesars.
The main issue found there appeared to be Caesars’ connections with the Gansevoort Hotel Group, a company partly owned by Arik Kislin, a man said to have ties to Russian organized crime. However, the FinCEN allegations were also revealed in the same month, suggesting that they could have been among the variety of issues that the Massachusetts Gaming Commission said they had with the Caesars bid.
Caesars Entertainment Operating Corp. filed for bankruptcy in January, and is currently trying to reduce the massive debt load held by the company. A restructuring could reduce the amount of debt held by CEOC by nearly $10 million.
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