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.”