Southern California’s Hawaiian Gardens Casino, which admitted last year that it wasn’t complying with federal anti-money laundering laws, and now facing the loss of its license, says it is currently following the law.
The casino, which is the main employer and largely funds the municipal government of Hawaiian Gardens, has spent $90 million on renovations—to the point where it is practically a new casino.
But the question remains whether it will be allowed to stay in business after its interim license expires next year.
Keith Sharp, general counsel for the casino, told a reporter recently that the casino management has taken steps to enforce procedures to prevent money laundering. He told the Press-Telegram: “We’ve made tremendous steps in improving our programs.”
The city claims it will be able to survive if 70 percent of its revenues go away. At least for one year due to $15 million in reserve.
Four months ago, the Bureau of Gambling Control, which operates under the state Attorney General, brought forward accusations that the casino failed to inform the state of federal investigations when it applied for a license renewal last summer.
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network levied a $2.8 million fine against the casino for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, whose purpose is to fight money laundering. It cited casino employees not keeping track of identities of persons doing cash business. In one instance a woman the workers didn’t know by any other than a first name was mentioned in 15 suspicious activity reports and five cash transactions.
Gardens Casino admits to its derelictions, but claims they were technical. Sharp claims the casino has expanded the size of its compliance team and hired a consultant to advise on federal requirements. He also argues that in three other cases the Bureau of Gambling Control demanded revoking a casino’s license but that in two of those cases the casinos were allowed to keep them. That is true in the case of the Casino M8trix and the Tavern at Stones Gambling Hall, but it is not true of the Normandie Casino in Gardena, which lost its license last April, but reopened when Larry Flynt purchased it.
The casino, which has 1,900 employees, began renovations three years ago. The price tag climbed from the original estimate of $45 million to $90 million.
“We had a luxury, obviously, of starting from a clean slate,” Sharp told the Press-Telegram.
