A self-described professional poker player plead guilty to federal charges of bookmaking and using a Las Vegas casino to launder millions of dollars.
Damien LeForbes is a co-star in the story that gained national attention because some of those millions of dollars were stolen from MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani by his interpreter.
LeForbes faces 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $500,000 fine for running a sportsbook and using Resorts World Las Vegas as a partner to launder the money. To add insult to injury, LeForbes supposedly lost $12.3 million gambling and playing poker at Resorts World, and is also accused of passing a bad check to the casino for $2.5 million, according to the Nevada Current.
The plea deal was reached in June. It says LeForbes “took millions of dollars in illegal bets over three years and recruited casino hosts to enrich his enterprise, which court documents call ‘the LeForbes Gambling Business,’” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “suspected or known felons wagering at Resorts World included Mathew Bowyer, who earlier in the month pleaded guilty to operating an unlawful gambling business, money laundering and subscribing to a false tax return; Edwin Ting, convicted in federal court of conducting an illegal gambling business and known to have ties to organized crime; Chad Iwamoto, convicted in federal court of transmission of wagering information and failing to file monthly tax return for wages; and another individual suspected of being an illegal bookmaker.”
It was Boyer and his wife, Nicole — who worked for Resorts World as an independent contractor — who helped put Resorts World in the gunsight of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. She was most likely the casino host the bookmakers used to connect with customers.
Although he is being described as a professional poker player — which most likely came from his LinkedIn account — Deforbes has no real tournament results and is apparently a multi-million dollar loser at Resorts World.
Resorts World faces consequences
On Aug. 15, the Nevada Gaming Control Board filed a disciplinary compliant against Resorts World, accusing the casino’s “actions or inactions caused damage to the reputation of the state of Nevada and Nevada’s gaming industry.”
It goes on to accuse Resorts World executives of allowing “a culture that welcomed certain individuals with suspected or actual ties to illegal bookmaking, histories of federal convictions related to illegal gambling businesses, and ties to organized crime.”
The complaint focussed on Matt and Nicole Boyer, who had a separate complaint filed against her last Thursday.
According to the NGCB, “(t)he board’s investigation revealed that Resorts World welcomed certain individuals to wager at its casino over a period of numerous months while Resorts World executives and employees knew, or should have known, that certain individuals were likely illegal bookmakers, that they had criminal convictions related to illegal gambling operations or that they had ties to organized crime.”
The complaint accuses Resorts World of failing to comply with its anti-money laundering program as well as Nevada Gaming Commission regulations.
The complaint also alleges that “there exists an overall lack of control within Resorts World and acceptance among Resorts World executives of a culture where information of suspicious or illegal activity is, at a minimum, negligently disregarded, or, at worst, willfully ignored for financial gain given the overall pressure for Resorts World to generate revenue and that the bonuses of Resorts World executives are directly tied to financial success of Resorts World.”
Read the entire complaint here.
Resorts World will have the opportunity to respond to the charges by requesting a hearing before the five-member NGBC, or it could negotiate a settlement. The casino faces fines upwards of $3 million.
Here’s Resorts World’s comment about the complaint:
“Resorts World Las Vegas is aware of the Nevada Gaming Control Board complaint. We are committed to doing business with the utmost integrity and in compliance with applicable laws and industry guidelines. We have been actively communicating with the GCB to resolve these issues so we can move forward and focus on our guests and nearly 5,000 team members.”
Resorts World problems go beyond dealing with the NGCB. The Current also reports that Resorts World has been investigated by federal authorities from California — where the bookies are based — since last year.
In his plea, Bower admitted taking bets from disgraced interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, who stole more than $16 million from Los Angeles dual-threat Ohtani. The money was then laundered through an associate who happens to be Ryan Boyajian, a current cast member of Bravo’s reality TV series “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” according to ESPN.
It worked like this: Mizuhara paid his losses to Boyajian, who then forwarded the money to his account at Resorts World. Boyer and Boyajian would then gamble with the money at the casino, and then cash out the winnings while casino bosses looked the other way.
