DOJ Served Wynn with Two Grand Jury Subpoenas for Alleged AML Violations

Last Wednesday, Wynn Resorts Ltd, one of the largest luxury resort and casino operators in the world made a 10-Q SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filing disclosing that it had been subpoenaed twice in H1 2020. The two grand jury subpoenas that the gaming company received were from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, inquiring about the anti-money laundering (AML) compliance of Wynn’s Sin City property, the Wynn Las Vegas.

Currently, the information as to why Wynn was slapped with the two subpoenas is scanty. Based on details from the company’s SEC filing, the only facts that are known are that the subpoenas involve “… various transactions at Wynn Las Vegas relating to certain patrons and agents who reside or operate in foreign jurisdictions”.

The SEC form 10-Q is a comprehensive quarterly report that all publicly listed companies in the USA must file to divulge all relevant information about the company. This report is normally unaudited but it is usually aimed at keeping investors updated on the company’s financial standing, administration discussions and analysis, disclosures, and overall internal controls.

Too Early to Make Conclusions About the Interaction

From the evidence that is available to the public right now, it will be premature to conclude that there’s a criminal act that took place. However, if any law was breached, there’s a chance that the culprit might be a resident of Southern California and not the Sin City area because the US Attorney’s Office involved only has jurisdiction over the San Diego and Imperial counties.

On its part, Wynn clarified that as of now, the DOJ hasn’t brought any charges or claims against the company, and thus, there’s no way of predicting the probe’s outcome or estimating the potential loss or damage that may come from resolving the case. The resorts and casino operator added that moving forward, the company will offer the authorities in the investigation full corporation.

This is not the first time that the U.S. Department of Justice (DO has issued a subpoena to a casino operator in relation to AML policies in 2020. Two months ago, in June, Las Vegas Sands’ Marina Bay Sands property in Singapore was under investigation after the DOJ sought to establish whether the company was compliant with AML procedures when dealing with VIP customers. Moreover, going back to January, a former compliance chief working at Marina Bay Sands was served a grand jury subpoena by DOJ prosecutors in a fact-finding probe. The prosecutors were searching for documents or records that would support the suspected violations which included third-party lending and junket operations using casino credit.