The Bicycle Hotel & Casino Fined $500K For Violating AML Laws

The Bicycle Hotel and Casino will be paying $500K in fine as it failed to report Currency Transaction Report (CTR) and Suspicious Activity Report for Casinos (SARC) for a foreigner who performed USD 100 million cash transactions in 2016.

The Los Angeles-based hotel and casino “The Bicycle” in Bell Gardens has agreed to pay USD 500,000 for failing to adhere to AML laws, as stated by the U.S Department of Justice.
The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) violation occurred in 2016 when a foreigner conducted a USD 100 million cash transaction. According to federal prosecutors, the transaction led to several federal Anti-Money Laundering (AML) violations, which could have been avoided with robust AML verification services.
The U.S Attorney Office stated, “Under the BSA, casinos like the Bicycle are required to implement and maintain programs designed to prevent criminals from using the casino to launder the large sums of cash that illegal activity can generate.”
The investigation was carried on by the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Gambling Control, IRS Criminal Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations.
The investigation revealed that the foreigner “high roller” gambled more than 100 times over the period of eight months in 2016. The cash-in and cash-out transactions were filed under the assistant’s name rather than under the “high roller’s” name. During the eight months, the Chinese national played high-limit baccarat in VIP rooms and on one occasion played for more than 10 hours after withdrawing USD 2 million from his player’s account.

Bicycle Casino agrees to pay $500,000 settlement and submit to increased review of anti-money laundering compliance program https://t.co/DEvcrq1Dd1

— US Attorney L.A. (@USAO_LosAngeles) November 5, 2021

The casino took steps to amend the failure to report CTR and SARC after the staff informed higher officials in July 2016. The reports were then registered on the high rollers’ behalf, and an AML committee was formed within the management. According to the Central District of California, “The USD 500,000 settlement is part of a non-prosecution agreement between federal prosecutors and Bicycle Casino”.
In addition to the fine, the casino is adopting techniques to strengthen its AML practices.

Suggested read: The Vicious Cycle of Money Laundering in the Gambling Industry