Sands At It Again

This is not the first time that the Sands chain have been in the news for somewhat negative reasons, and you could bet high stakes that it will not be the last. The man who famously said that he hates USA online casinos – Sheldon Adelson – has been implicated in a money laundering scheme that may have sever repercussions for the CEO of the Sands casinos.

The US Justice Department released a statement that they are investigating the Las Vegas Sands Corp. in order to decide whether or not they broke federal law recently by failing to report a potential money laundering action. Two high rolling Las Vegas gamblers are implicated in the scheme which saw millions of dollars being transferred to the Sands casinos, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The charges concern events during the mid-2000s. Chinese born Mexican businessman Zhenil Ye Gon, who deals with pharmaceuticals, and Californian Ausaf Umar Siddiqui, previously a Vice Excutive of Fry’s Electronics, are the shady dealers in question.  Gon moved around $85 million to Sands casinos and lost more than $125 million, while Siddiqui appears to have transferred more than $100 million during the last decade.

Gon was indicted for drug trafficking back in 2007, so it is clear where the source of his money came from. Dealing with methamphetamine, one of the most dangerous drugs on the market, the charges were later dropped – but Gon now faces extradition to Mexico to face further charges of trafficking and laundering there. Meanwhile, Siddiqui pleaded guilty to taking illegal kickbacks in 2009 and is now serving a six year prison sentence, so these extra charges will not help him to get out early on good behaviour. There are as yet no concrete implications that Adelson was involved, but it seems unlikely that the laundering went on without the knowledge of high up officials in the company, so action will follow – it just remains to be seen exactly how high up the corruption goes.

Getting away from nasty stories like this is all part of theonline casino bonus, and as far as we are concerned crooked businessmen like Adelson can keep well away from the internet – so that we know that we are still safe from their legal games. Whether or not he is involved in this, it is just the latest scandal to affect the Sands and he has had a hand in a many a shock case over the years.