Rio fined

Monday, Jan. 15, 2001 | 11:22 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- For the second time in 16 months, Harrah's Entertainment Inc.'s Rio hotel-casino has agreed to pay a fine for violating state accounting regulations.

The Rio and the state Gaming Control Board have signed an agreement under which the resort will pay $100,000. That is on top of a $125,000 penalty assessed in October 1999.

Negotiations between the casino and the resort have been under way since a complaint was filed last May.

The Rio admitted there were violations of accounting regulations, but said some of them were "inadvertent."

The board, in its complaint, said an undercover agent deposited $4,200 at the main casino cage, all in $20 bills, in March. The money was placed in a sealed envelope. But when he redeemed the money, the cage employee gave him $100 bills instead of the original deposit, thus violating regulations that are aimed at stopping money laundering.

The complaint also said the Rio did not make accurate records of the transaction, such as describing the undercover agent and the time of the deposit.

The Rio said that since its 1999 infraction, it has "instituted significant changes" in training employees and in complying with the regulations. The recent violation, it said, was "an isolated instance of human error by one employee and not indicative of a pattern of non-compliance." The casino said it took "prompt action" against the employee, who had previously received the required training.

The settlement also requires the Rio to hire a consultant to ensure the casino's written program complies with state regulations and to review its employee training program.