Meetings & Information




*****************************
****************************************************
MUST READ:
GET THE FACTS!






Friday, August 30, 2013

$47 MILLION FINE for Sands Money Laundering

This is NOT the first time Sands has been involved in MONEY LAUNDERING.
New Jersey ignored it and renewed the SANDS' license with Steve Perskie as Chairman.
Hmmmm......

[Steve Wynn is also under investigation for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, yet welcomed into Massachusetts?]

Las Vegas Casino Settles in Money-Laundering Inquiry - NYTimes ...

www.nytimes.com/.../las-vegas-casino-settles-in-money-laundering-inquiry....
Las Vegas Casino Settles in Money-Laundering Inquiry. By MICHAEL LUO. Published: August 28, 2013. The Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the casino ...

Govt probes Las Vegas Sands Corp. on money laundering | Alternet

File picture shows Chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation Sheldon Adelson at a press conference in Macau in April. The Justice Department has ...

Sands, U.S. Reach Money-Laundering Accord

Las Vegas Sands and U.S. prosecutors reached an agreement to resolve a money-laundering investigation.

http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-310436/

Sheldon Adelson’s Sands Casino to pay $47 million fine for failing to report deposits from alleged drug trafficker

The Sands failed to report that Chinese-Mexican businessman Zhenli Ye Gon, who is under investigation for drug trafficking, deposited more than $45 million into the Venetian casino in 2006 and 2007.

APRIL 5, 2013 FILE PHOTO

Julie Jacobson/AP

Las Vegas Sands Corp, which is owned by U.S. billionaire Sheldon Adelson, signed a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department on Monday, agreeing to pay $47.4 million in fines stemming from a money laundering investigation.

For business tycoon Sheldon Adelson it is the equivalent of salt in the wound.

After spending millions to try and thwart President Barack Obama’s reelection in 2012, Adelson’s
Las Vegas casino empire agreed this week to pay the U.S. government $47.4 million in fines to avoid criminal charges stemming from a money laundering investigation.

Las Vegas Sands Corp., which owns the Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino, agreed to the settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday night.

RELATED: ISRAELI NEWSPAPERS 'RUINED' BY U.S. MOGUL’S FREE DAILY
For two years, the Justice Department gathered evidence showing that Chinese-Mexican businessman Zhenli Ye Gon had deposited $45 million in suspected drug money to the Venetian in 2006 and 2007 in a series of complex transactions designed to avoid detection.
Federal law requires that suspicious deposits be reported to U.S. authorities, but Ye Gon was the casino’s best customer, losing more than $90 million at the Venetian’s tables.

Chinese-born businessman Zhenli Ye Gon, who lost more than $90 million at Adelson's Venetian casino, deposited $45 million directly to the casino in 2006 and 2007 in transactions designed to avoid detection.

RICHARD DREW/AP

Chinese-born businessman Zhenli Ye Gon, who lost more than $90 million at Adelson's Venetian casino, deposited $45 million directly to the casino in 2006 and 2007 in transactions designed to avoid detection.


“For the first time, a casino has faced the very real possibility of a federal criminal case for failing to properly report suspicious funds received from a gambler,” U.S. Attorney AndrĂ© Birotte Jr., who represents the Central District of California, said in a statement.

“This is also the first time a casino has agreed to return those funds to the government,” Birotte said.

“All companies, especially casinos, are now on notice that America’s anti-money laundering laws apply to all people and every corporation, even if that company risks losing its most profitable customer.”

In his statement, Birotte said that the Sands admitted “in hindsight that it failed to fully appreciate the suspicious nature of the information or lack thereof pertaining to Ye Gon.”

While the fine is significant, many investors had anticipated that the Sands would have to settle for an even larger amount. Adelson, who is the CEO and chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp., has a net worth of more than $20 billion.

The Sands is not out of the woods yet, however. The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are still conducting a separate investigation into whether the casino empire—which owns resorts in resorts in Macau, Singapore and Pennsylvania—may have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/sheldon-adelson-sands-casino-pay-47-million-fine-article-1.1439489#ixzz2dVLbqC7J

Sands agrees to settlement in Vegas money laundering deal

As the Florida Senate completes plans to embark on a statewide road show to discuss the future of gambling in Florida, one of the most active players in the quest to bring resort casinos to Florida -- Las Vegas Sands -- has withstood some rocky publicity this week.

According to the Wall Street Journal, and other news sources, the casino giant has agreed to pay more than $47 million and will accept U.S. Department of Justice's assertion that the company failed to report suspcicious financial activity by a customer who dealt only in cash, and who was later identified as a drug kingpin.

A Sands spokesman told the Wall Street Journal in its Wednesday papers that, "The company cooperated fully in the investigation, and that effort was recognized clearly by the government."

Under the agreement reviewed by the WSJ, Sands has agreed to refrain from using generic names on its customer accounts and must also conduct two years of reviews of its anti-money laundering policies and file periodic reports with the government.

The federal settlement is part of a two-year probe into possible money-laundering at the Sands, the newspaper reported. Investigators at the U.S. Treasury and Justice Department have been concerned that the practices may have enabled some of the casino's most lucrative customers to gamble using proceeds from illegal activities, federal officials said.

Sands officials also disclosed in its annual report in March that after an internal probe into its casino operations in Macau, the company probably violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.


Sheldon Adelson's Sands Targeted in Money Laundering ... - Forbes

www.forbes.com/.../sheldon-adelsons-sands-targeted-in-money-l...
Aug 4, 2012 - Las Vegas Sands targeted in federal money laundering investigation spells more bad news for Adelson and Romney.

No comments: