Nevada
Illegal bookmaker nominated for Nevada’s ‘black book’ by gaming regulators
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The man at the center of state and federal money laundering investigations has been nominated for inclusion in Nevada’s black book — the list of people prohibited from entering a casino in the state.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board voted unanimously to nominate Mathew Bowyer to the list at their Wednesday meeting. Bowyer is currently serving time in federal prison for convictions involving illegal bookmaking and money laundering.
The black book is symbolic of Nevada’s commitment to the integrity of the state’s gaming industry. Convicted cheaters and “unsavory” characters — some with connections to organized crime — are added to the state’s list by regulators. Wednesday’s vote was the first step in listing Bowyer. If he doesn’t request a hearing before the Nevada Gaming Commission, he can be included in the list by another vote at an upcoming meeting.
Bowyer’s name surfaced during the investigation into bets made by a man who worked as a translator for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani. Ippei Mizuhara was just one of many bettors — estimated at more than 700 people — who placed bets through Bowyer, who operated in California using offshore sports wagering websites.
Mizuhara was sentenced to four years in prison for stealing $17 million from Otani. Investigators estimate he placed $324 million in wagers with Bowyer, losing just under $41 million.
Investigators said Bowyer “frequented Las Vegas casinos and used illicit proceeds from his illegal bookmaking business to gamble and pay off casino markers,” a description repeated at Wednesday’s meeting by Nevada Deputy Attorney General Nona Lawrence.
She outlined five things in Bowyer’s past that qualify him for inclusion in the black book:
- convicted of felonies under federal law
- convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude
- convicted of a crime that is a violation of the gaming laws of California
- convicted of willful evasion of taxes
- he has a notorious or unsavory reputation that would adversely affect public confidence and trust that the gaming industry is free from criminal or corruptive elements
Any one of those is enough to put him on the list.
Bowyer was a central figure in the investigation into money laundering violations at Resorts World Las Vegas, and Nevada gaming regulators have reached agreements that produced fines totaling more than $30 million from Resorts World, MGM Grand, Wynn Las Vegas and Caesars Palace. Those investigations have focused on improper relationships with illegal bookmakers.
Gaming Control Board member George Assad said Bowyer was “thumbing his nose at us” and said the action should send messages that people who launder money through Nevada casinos will be fully prosecuted, and then banned from casinos to protect the gaming industry’s reputation.
Assad pushed for the nominations of Bowyer and another illegal bookmaker, Wayne Nix, to the black book. Nix was nominated in December.
“The second message should now be very clear to all Nevada gaming licensees, that we will hold them accountable and responsible for lax oversight, whether it be from gross negligence or institutional willful ignorance or just plain stupidity.”
He added, “It is also important that Mr. Bowyer and Mr. Nix be placed in the Nevada black book by the Nevada Gaming Commission to also send a strong message to the federal government and federal politicians that we can clean up our own dirty laundry. There is no need for a federal gaming oversight commission, and there is no need to have a federal gaming tax to pay for such a commission.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom won’t admit it, but a move by President Donald Trump is especially helpful to drivers in California — and Nevada.
Gasoline prices are pressuring consumers around the country. On Friday, the average U.S. price was $4.55 a gallon. In California, that would be a bargain. The average there was $6.16 a gallon. Nevada’s average was $5.23 a gallon, the result of around 88 percent of the state’s gasoline coming from California.
It might be getting worse — regardless of what happens in Iran.
In recent months, two major California refineries have shut down. That represented a 17 percent reduction in California’s refining capacity. Their closures weren’t caused by the Iran war, but by Gov. Newsom and California’s relentless attacks on fossil fuels.
To make up for the fuel it won’t extract or refine in-state, California depends on imports from foreign countries.
“We are importing 30 percent of our crude oil from the Middle East,” Mike Ariza, a former control board supervisor at the Valero Benicia Refinery, said in an interview. He has been warning the public about California’s potential fuel shortage. “There are not very many ships left on the way that have fuel,” he said last month.
Last week, KCRA-TV in Sacramento reported that “about 2 million barrels of oil are in the process of being unloaded in Long Beach off of the last California-bound tanker that got through the Strait of Hormuz.”
At a California legislative hearing Tuesday, Siva Gunda, the vice chairman of the California Energy Commission, said the state has enough gasoline to accommodate demand for the next six weeks. That’s not a very long time, especially given that it takes weeks or months for oil to travel from the Middle East to California. And that process won’t begin until the Strait of Hormuz reopens.
There is a region, however, with abundant oil available for sale and safe passage — the southeastern United States. Unfortunately, the Jones Act, an antiquated 1920 law, mandates that only U.S.-flagged ships may move cargo between U.S. ports. But only 55 of the more than 7,000 oil tankers worldwide comply with this requirement.
This is where Mr. Trump rode to the rescue. Late last month, the White House announced Mr. Trump would suspend the Jones Act for another 90 days. In March, he originally waived it for 60 days. This will make it easier for California and Nevada to obtain domestic product.
If only Mr. Trump could also suspend the destructive energy policies imposed by Gov. Newsom and California Democrats.
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — An adoptable pet is in the spotlight for “Furever Home Friday,” with Amy from the Nevada SPCA featured in a segment highlighting an animal available for adoption today.
The Nevada SPCA encouraged viewers looking to add a pet to their family to consider adopting.
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