Chavdar Vasilev is a journalist covering the casino and sports betting market sectors for CasinoBeats. He joined CasinoBeats in May 2025 and reports on industry-shaping stories across the US and beyond, including legislative debates, market...
Read Full BioCaesars Entertainment has agreed to pay a $7.8 million penalty to resolve a Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) complaint alleging the company allowed convicted illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer to gamble, obtain credit, and transact at its Las Vegas properties for years despite extensive public evidence linking him to a major criminal betting operation.
The Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) is scheduled to consider the proposed settlement on November 20.
NGCB’s Allegations
According to the NGCB complaint, Caesars allegedly allowed Mathew Bowyer to gamble at its properties for years, even though the casino knew that Bowyer lacked a source of funds to support his gambling.
The complaint states that Bowyer had been a patron of Caesars Palace since before 2017, until January 2024. The company identified suspicions about his background as early as 2017.
That year, Bowyer made deposits of over $4 million on multiple occasions, while the casino’s records indicated that it couldn’t determine the source of his funds.
In June 2019, Caesars received an anonymous call identifying Bowyer as a “bookie.” According to the complaint, Caesars classified him as “high risk” the same month. His account was suspended after the company was unable to determine his source of income and his over $2 million in losses from the previous year.
Still, a month later, Caesars reinstated Bowyer’s account after he provided a statement indicating he had just under $3 million in winnings from the Cosmopolitan in 2018.
Regulators say Bowyer continued gambling at Caesars properties until January 2024. That’s when the casino finally banned him following media reports that his home had been raided in connection with an illegal bookmaking investigation.
The NGCB alleges that, despite repeated warning signs — including undetermined sources of funds, direct allegations of bookmaking, and years of high-volume gambling activity — Caesars failed to escalate or act on the information promptly, thereby violating Nevada’s anti-money laundering (AML) and suitability requirements.
The complaint raises five counts against Caesars:
- Failure to establish Bowyer’s source of funds
- Failure to ban Bowyer
- Failure to conduct adequate due diligence on Bowyer after receipt of material negative information
- Failure to elevate Bowyer to Caesars’ AML officer
- Failure to conduct an investigation
Who Is Mathew Bowyer?
Boywer rose to national attention through his connection to the federal case involving Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter. Bowyer allegedly handled more than $326 million in bets linked to Mizuhara. The former interpreter, who received a 57-month prison sentence, owed Bowyer over $41 million.
Earlier this year, Bowyer pleaded guilty to operating an illegal gambling business and related federal offenses. He received a one-year sentence in federal prison, with the sentence reflecting his cooperation in the Mizuhara case. His name appeared in extensive media coverage and federal filings, making him a plainly unsuitable patron under Nevada gaming law.
MGM & Resorts World Also Fined for Ties to Bowyer
The compliance issues facing Caesars are part of a broader regulatory enforcement action against major Nevada operators that breached AML protocols, with some directly related to Bowyer.
In March, Resorts World Las Vegas received a $10.5 million fine, the second-largest in Nevada’s history. Regulators found that Bowyer placed large wagers at the property. At the same time, its compliance systems failed to verify his source of funds. Furthermore, the casino did not take appropriate action despite escalating red flags.
In April, MGM Resorts International agreed to pay $8.5 million for similar AML failures tied to Bowyer and another illegal bookie, Wayne Nix.
In May, Wynn Resorts became the third operator to pay a multi-million dollar fine for weaknesses in protocol compliance. While unrelated to Bowyer, Wynn’s failures were similar to those of MGM and Resorts World. This includes allowing international patrons to transfer funds for gambling and place wagers on behalf of others. The operator agreed to pay $5.5 million.
Collectively, these cases underscore recurring issues: high-roller treatment for problematic patrons, extended access despite known ties to illegal gambling, and weak enforcement of suitability and anti-money-laundering requirements.
