Rio to pay $125,000 fine for accounting violations

Monday, Oct. 18, 1999 | 11:44 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Rio Suite hotel-casino in Las Vegas admitted Friday it violated state gaming accounting regulations and agreed to pay a fine of $125,000.

The Las Vegas resort and the state Gaming Control Board reached a settlement in which both agreed there was no evidence to show an intention to launder money. The agreement also said there was no evidence that the violations were the "willful" acts by the casino or its management.

The complaint, filed in July by the board, could have meant a maximum fine of $1.35 million.

The case arose out of a 55-table poker tournament in July of this year. Board agents said they watched two cashiers giving large sums of money to players in exchange for their chips without getting any identification and not recording the transactions.

Nevada regulations require casinos to report each cash-out transaction of more than $10,000 a player. Clubs are required to get the name, address, Social Security number and examine some document such as a driver's license to verify the information. In one case a player redeemed $29,197 in chips for cash from one of the cashiers.

The Rio admitted its employees failed to follow the currency transaction report requirements. But it neither admitted nor denied the allegation that the employees only received limited training. However, to settle the complaint the casino "conceded such allegations" and agreed to pay the fine to "resolve this matter in an amicable and expeditious manner."

The casino denied the allegations that the employees improperly filled out W-2G forms required by the Internal Revenue Service during the first round of the tournament. While the forms were incorrect, the Rio said they are not to be filed with the IRS until next February and its accounting department would have caught the errors. But it decided not to contest the point by asking for a hearing.