MGM, Gaming Control Board informed of allegations against Sibella in 2019

MGM Resorts International’s former CEO and chairman Jim Murren and Nevada gaming regulators knew for years of allegations that company executives, including then-MGM Grand president Scott Sibella, were turning a blind eye to gamblers with questionable sources of income, according to emails and text messages included as exhibits in a 2020 lawsuit obtained by the Current. 

Sibella entered a guilty plea in federal court last week for failing to file a suspicious activity report in 2018 when illegal bookmaker Wayne Nix paid a $120,000 gambling debt in cash. MGM Resorts took in more than $4 million from Nix’s illegal ring over three years, according to the federal government. The company agreed to pay a $7.45 million fine as part of a non-prosecution agreement. 

 “…I have witnessed alot (sic) of inappropriate and illegal behavior going on at MGM properties,” gambler R.J. Cipriani wrote to Murren on Jan. 28, 2019, in an email that was copied to a number of MGM executives, including Sibella, and blind copied to the Nevada Gaming Control Board (GCB) and the FBI. 

Cipriani alleges in the email that drugs and prostitutes “were allegedly provided to certain high rollers with criminal records who play with questionable bankrolls. This conduct is overlooked because they blow eight figure sums of money on a single trip to MGM properties. I have several of their names. It involves Scott Sibella,” Cipriani wrote, and other MGM executives who have not been charged with any wrongdoing.

“I’ve been told this inappropriate conduct has been going on for quite some time and is indicative of the culture of MGM properties to INCREASE THE BOTTOM LINE by keeping big players happy, at any and all cost,” Cipriani wrote.

Murren announced in Feb. 2020 he was leaving the company and later became Gov. Steve Sisolak’s point man on a COVID-19 initiative. He did not respond to requests for comment. 

Sibella, according to his plea agreement, admitted to an undisclosed law enforcement agency in 2022 that he believed Nix was involved in illegal activity, but “didn’t want to know because of my position… If we know, we can’t allow them to gamble… I didn’t ask.”

Casinos are required by federal law to know the source of gamblers’ funds and report suspicious transactions. Know Your Customer (KYC) standards are designed to protect financial institutions, including casinos, against corruption, fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing.

On Jan. 28, 2019, the same day Cipriani emailed Murren, MGM general counsel John McManus emailed Cipriani, advising him he was aware of the gambler’s missive to Murren. 

“We have initiated an investigation into these serious allegations,” McManus wrote, and asked for Cipriani’s assistance. “It will help us to conduct a thorough and appropriate review if you can provide as much detail and corroborating evidence as possible.”  

A spokesman for MGM says McManus forwarded Cipriani’s concerns to the GCB, but maintains McManus was unaware of allegations involving Sibella and Know Your Customer protocols.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California conducted a thorough and complete investigation into this matter and has released their findings publicly,” MGM spokesman Jeff Mochal said via email Tuesday. “We fully cooperated with the USAO’s investigation and, in fact, received a cooperation credit which is in the non-prosecution agreement.”  

Sandra Douglass Morgan, appointed in early Jan. 2019 by Sisolak to chair the GCB, did not respond to requests for comment on whether gaming regulators investigated Cipriani’s claims. Douglass Morgan worked as an attorney representing MGM prior to her appointment to the GCB. She is now president of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Kirk Hendrick, the current chairman of the GCB, also did not respond to questions from the Current. Last year, the GCB exonerated Sibella after an investigation into his alleged associations with undesirable gamblers.

A month after Cipriani’s missive to Murren, Sibella, who held top positions at a number of MGM properties, left the company, reportedly resigning voluntarily as part of its ‘MGM 2020’ cost-cutting initiative. 

Through August of 2019 Cipriani provided information to McManus, according to text messages included as exhibits in a 2020 lawsuit Cipriani eventually filed against MGM.  

“I fully intend to bring law enforcement in as appropriate,” McManus responded when Cipriani suggested having the FBI question an employee suspected of providing player data to a sports bettor with an interest in persuading gamblers to sign up for off-shore betting accounts in order to influence the odds on sporting events. 

McManus and Cipriani set up a sting operation in which corporate security monitored the employee’s computer use while Cipriani gambled. 

“He is a bad guy and should not be working in the gaming industry. His current circumstance is his own doing. He should not be selling customer information to anyone,” McManus texted Cipriani after the sting proved the allegations to be true and the surveillance employee was fired. “I have zero sympathy for surveillance guy.”  

The surveillance employee denies he sold the information. He says he’s unaware of any investigation and the incident has not affected his ability to work. He was subsequently hired by Sibella at Resorts World, and is currently the surveillance director at another resort. 

MGM spokesman Mochal says McManus reported the employee’s theft of personal information to the GCB. “His recollection is that Mr. Cipriani declined to cooperate.”

“That’s nonsense,” said Cipriani, noting he’s “probably emailed the GCB 30 times trying to get them to talk to me.”