Former MGM Grand casino president to be sentenced for illegal betting

The former president of Las Vegas’ MGM Grand casino is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday afternoon on a federal criminal charge related to his failure to report millions of dollars in bets made by an illegal bookmaker at his casino.

Scott Sibella, the former MGM executive, pleaded guilty in January in the case in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to one count of failing to report suspicious transactions that casinos must make under the law on banking secrecy.

Sibella’s lawyers asked that he be sentenced to probation, as did prosecutors.

Sibella admitted to knowing that a customer at her casino, Wayne Nix, was running an illegal gambling business, according to the Justice Department.

“Despite this knowledge, Sibella permitted Nix to gamble at the MGM Grand and affiliated properties with illicit proceeds generated by the illegal gaming industry without notifying the casino’s compliance department,” the DOJ said in January.

“Not only did Sibella allow Nix to gamble at the casino, he also allowed Nix to receive free benefits at the casino, including meals, room, board and golf trips with top executives and other wealthy clients casinos, in order to further encourage Nix to patronize the casino and/or other affiliated properties.

At the time of Sibella’s guilty plea, the DOJ also said it had resolved an investigation into alleged violations of money laundering laws and the Bank Secrecy Act at the MGM Grand and the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. The casinos agreed to settlements requiring them to pay a total of $7.45 million, as well as strengthen their anti-money laundering compliance program.

“In their respective (non-prosecution) agreements, MGM Grand and the Cosmopolitan each agreed
responsibility for laundering Nix’s illicit funds and failing to properly file suspicious activity reports (SARs) on Nix, who conducted numerous transactions involving millions of dollars at casinos between 2017 and 2020,” said the DOJ at the time.