Feds search house of Steve Wynn’s brother

Jen Lawson

Thursday, Feb. 26, 2004 | 11:14 a.m.

Las Vegas executive Kenny Wynn, the brother of casino-hotel magnate Steve Wynn, recently was served with a search warrant at his home in connection with a child pornography investigation, according to law enforcement sources.

The warrant was served by agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That agency's resident agent in charge did not immediately return calls for comment.

As of this morning, Kenny Wynn had not been arrested, and no charges had been filed against him, according to police records.

A law enforcement official said the federal search warrant was sealed.

KLAS-TV Channel 8 first reported the story Wednesday night, reporting that a child pornography task force obtained the warrant after Wynn's name was seen on a website where child porn is swapped.

Sources said Wynn's computer was taken during the search.

Kenny Wynn could not be reached for comment, and calls to Steve Wynn's office were not immediately returned.

Metro officials would not comment on the case Wednesday night, referring all questions to the federal agency. The agency has been in the midst of an operation that has resulted in 2,000 arrests nationwide related to child pornography and other sexual offenses.

One of those arrests was Las Vegas resident Harold Richard Shaw, who was charged earlier this month. Shaw, a Mormon church camp counselor, is the first U.S. citizen from the Las Vegas Valley nabbed in the sting. About 50 foreigners with sexual offenses on their record have been arrested locally and deported since the initiative began last July, officials said.

The effort is aimed at catching adults engaged in child prostitution, trafficking, pornography and sexual tourism, crimes that affect millions and generate billions of dollars worldwide, according to the immigrations and customs agency.

It was unclear if the search warrant served on Kenny Wynn was related.

In the 1990s, Kenny Wynn was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in a high-profile drug case. He publicly admitted a drug abuse problem, paid a $10,000 fine and surrendered his gaming license for a year.

Kenny Wynn until very recently had been president of Wynn Design & Development. That company is supervising the construction of Steve Wynn's new resort-casino, Wynn Las Vegas, on the Strip, according to a 2002 regulatory filing by Steve Wynn's company, Wynn Las Vegas LLC.

The filing noted that "Kenneth R. Wynn will be supervising the construction, architectural and interior design and purchasing" for the new $2.4 billion resort-casino.

The filing says Kenny Wynn had "previously served as President of Atlandia Design & Furnishings, Inc., then a wholly owned subsidiary of Mirage Resorts, where he directly supervised the construction, architecture, interior design and purchasing departments, as well as outside contractors and consultants, for all of Mirage Resorts' new construction and remodel projects, including Bellagio, The Mirage, Treasure Island at The Mirage and Golden Nugget-Las Vegas."

Before the news about the search warrant had spread, Steve Wynn said his brother had left Wynn Design & Development last week "to pursue other interests." Wynn declined to elaborate.

Sun reporter

Jace Radke contributed to the story.