Nevada probes link to loan shark

Friday, Nov. 14, 2003 | 11:09 a.m.

State gaming regulators are closely monitoring an international money laundering investigation being conducted by Japanese authorities to determine if any Nevada companies knowingly participated in any wrong-doing.

Dennis Neilander, chairman of the state Gaming Control Board, said today that Las Vegas hotel-casino properties linked to an investigation of Susumu Kajiyama are cooperating with Japanese authorities. He did not name what Las Vegas properties are assisting Japanese investigators.

The Daily Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported Thursday that the Metropolitan Police Department of Tokyo seized $2 million believe to be part of illegal profit earned in a loan shark operation.

Kajiyama, 54, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of concealing 216 million Japanese yen by changing it into U.S. dollars and keeping it in a safe-deposit box lent by a third-party firm affiliated with Las Vegas hotel-casinos, the Japanese newspaper said.

Neilander said today that Nevada regulators are most concerned about whether casinos followed proper accounting regulations in any dealings with Kajiyama or his associates.

"It's a fairly big story in Japan, so we're paying close attention to the details of this investigation," Neilander said.

He added that regulators have monitored international financial dealings closely because most of the major casino companies have overseas branch offices.

Japanese police began talking to Nevada authorities when it was determined that Kajiyama had deposited money to gamble in a major Las Vegas casino, but never spent much in the casino. The Daily Yomiuri reported that Japanese police suspect the deposit was made to launder the money.

The gaming control board takes money-laundering allegations seriously. A high-profile case involving money-laundering compliance was resolved last summer when a former Mirage hotel-casino employee agreed to a negotiated settlement with the attorney general's office for failure to file nearly 15,000 anti-money laundering reports.

Former Mirage compliance officer Christopher Morishita awaits sentencing in the case, which was resolved in July. Mirage parent company MGM MIRAGE paid a $5 million fine for failing to file the reports -- the largest single fine against a Nevada casino in state history.

The Gaming Control Board also is investigating Station Casinos Inc. for irregularities in anti-money laundering reports filed for the company's Santa Fe Station property. The company has acknowledged errors in reports and alerted regulators in April. The board's investigation is continuing.

Also in April, Park Place Entertainment Corp., owners of Caesars Palace, Paris-Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Hilton, agreed to pay a $75,000 fine to the state to settle a complaint that employees in the company's Dallas office deliberately avoided filing anti-money laundering reports as a favor to good customers.