Internal records cited in the lawsuit characterize the group’s activity as involving unverified funds, credit fraud, repeated third-party marker payments, coordinated or “coached” wagering, chip passing, chip walking, bankrolling, minimal gaming, offsetting bets, and bill-stuffing.
Banks says he recommended restrictions as early as 2023, including prohibiting certain third-party payments. While those recommendations were formally adopted, he alleges the casino’s anti-money laundering (AML) committee repeatedly minimized concerns and delayed enforcement.
Allegations of Executive Pushback
By September 2024, more than 50 suspicious activity reports (SARs) had been filed regarding the patrons, according to the complaint. During a committee meeting six days later, Banks says he learned that the father of one patron had previously been implicated in an unlicensed money-transmitting matter involving Wynn Las Vegas.
Still, Banks alleges senior executives downplayed the seriousness of the situation. In one meeting, Executive Vice President of Casino Operations Al Meranto allegedly characterized the patrons’ behavior as “cultural.”
Banks submitted a comprehensive report on Sept. 2, 2025, detailing what he called the “Argentina Scheme” to chief compliance officer Jennifer Roberts and other compliance staff. Nine days later, Resorts World banned 28 patrons associated with alleged credit fraud and referred their accounts to the Clark County district attorney for collection of approximately $12-$13 million in unpaid casino credit.
Termination and Regulators
Banks was fired on Sept. 29, 2025. He says his direct supervisor and human resources director told him he was being terminated because of the illegal gambling scheme. Banks protested, telling them, “I detected it, you’re killing the author.” According to the complaint, HR Director Bob Napierala responded that the directive came directly from “the C-suite.”
The lawsuit also alleges Resorts World altered the report Banks submitted to state gaming regulators. During a March 2026 meeting with a Nevada Gaming Control Board agent, Banks says he was shown a version of his report that omitted key details, including Meranto’s “cultural” remark and information about an exception to a third-party payment policy that Banks had opposed.
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Banks has since filed whistleblower complaints with the Department of Labor, FinCEN, and the Justice Department’s Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program. OSHA has not yet ruled on his federal complaint, and no hearings have been scheduled in the civil case.
Resorts World Responds
In a statement made to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a spokesperson for Resorts World responded to the allegations.
“It is unfortunate that Mr. Banks has elected to file this frivolous action relating to the termination of his employment,” the statement read. “Resorts World strongly denies the allegations and characterizations in the lawsuit. We look forward to addressing these claims in the appropriate forum and have no further comment.”
The dispute comes after Resorts World agreed in March 2025 to pay a $10.5 million fine—the second-largest in Nevada gaming history—to settle a regulatory complaint involving anti-money-laundering failures and gamblers with ties to illegal bookmaking.
The casino subsequently overhauled its leadership structure and appointed Jennifer Roberts as chief compliance officer, a figure who appears prominently in Banks’s lawsuit.
Whether Banks’s warnings qualify as protected whistleblower activity, whether his termination was retaliatory, and whether Resorts World’s handling of the patron network violated federal law remain open questions for the court to resolve.
Dingnews.com 18/09/2026