The Bell Gardens, California card club Bicycle Casino has agreed to pay a $500,000 settlement for violations of federal anti-money laundering (AML) rules, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced. It also agreed to beef up its AML protocols.
The casino admits it failed to properly report a high-rolling Chinese national who conducted millions of dollars in cash transactions in 2016. The whale gambled at the casino about 100 times over eight months, playing high-limit baccarat in a VIP room. He carried duffel bags of cash to and from the casino. One such game involved $2 million that he took from his player account and used to play for more than 10 hours.
His assistant exchanged hundreds of millions of dollars in cash for chips. Any chip transaction that exceeds $10,000 is supposed to trigger a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) to the U.S. Treasury Department.
His activities drew federal scrutiny although the casino failed to file any Suspicious Activity Reports for Casinos (SARCs) required by the Bank Secrecy Act.
Employees brought the activity to the casino management’s attention, which led to the creation of an AML committee and to the amending of CTRs. These actions weighed in the casino’s favor when law enforcement officials considered criminal charges.
Casino attorney Johnny L. Griffin III said in a statement, “I am pleased that the government, through its extensive and lengthy investigation, has determined and confirmed that there are no systemic faults within the Bicycle Hotel & Casino’s compliance and reporting programs.”
