Las Vegas Casino Director Says He Was Fired After Flagging Illegal $13M Credit Network

Former Resorts World Las Vegas compliance director Preston Banks alleges he was fired 27 days after submitting a report on a suspicious international patron network.

The casino barred 28 patrons and referred approximately $12 million, $13 million in unpaid casino credit for collection.

Several alleged activities closely resemble FATF's latest money-laundering indicators.

A former Resorts World Las Vegas compliance director claims he was fired less than a month after documenting a sprawling international patron network linked to unverifiable funds and up to $13 million in unpaid casino credit.

Preston Banks alleges in a federal complaint filed on Sept. 14 that management repeatedly delayed or limited its response to warning signs involving between 60 and 150 patrons.

Resorts World ultimately barred 28 members of the alleged network and referred their accounts to the Clark County District Attorney's Office for collection of approximately $12 million, $13 million.

The casino and entertainment giant strongly denies the lawsuit's allegations and has characterized the action as frivolous.

Banks joined Resorts World in September 2022 after spending 16 years at the US Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

His responsibilities included identifying suspicious activity and supporting the casino's Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money-laundering controls.

Banks alleges he began examining a group of Argentinian patrons in late 2022 after the casino could not verify their reported sources of funds.

According to the complaint, some businesses listed on casino credit applications either did not exist or could not be located.

By 2024, the group allegedly included patrons from Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay, Italy, and Spain and had grown to somewhere between 60 and 150 people.

Internal records cited in the lawsuit allegedly identified several warning signs, including:

A casino marker is essentially a credit instrument that allows a patron to gamble with money advanced by the casino.

Third-party marker payments occur when somebody other than the patron who received the credit repays the debt.

Banks' records allegedly identified 28 such payments tied to three patrons between January 2023 and August 2024.

The complaint also claims that another patron paid roughly $99,000 in cash to cover hotel rooms and expenses for 11 other people.

By September 2024, Resorts World had filed more than 50 suspicious activity reports connected with members of the group, according to Banks.

Banks claims he repeatedly recommended increasingly severe restrictions, ranging from bans on third-party marker payments to full property exclusions.

However, the lawsuit alleges that Resorts World's anti-money-laundering committee also minimized concerns and occasionally relaxed restrictions.

During one meeting, a casino executive allegedly characterized the patrons' activity as "cultural," according to the complaint.

Banks submitted a comprehensive report, including a timeline and supporting documents, to Chief Compliance Officer Jennifer Roberts and other compliance staff on Sept. 2, 2025.

Roberts ordered a priority internal review the following day.

On Sept. 11, Resorts World barred 28 patrons associated with the alleged credit-fraud component of the network and sent their unpaid accounts to Clark County prosecutors for collection.

Banks claims no performance concerns were raised during a meeting with Roberts the following day.

According to Banks, Resorts World's human resources director told him the dismissal concerned the same patron network and that the decision had come from "the C-suite."

Five days before Banks filed his lawsuit, the Financial Action Task Force published a new list of gambling-related financial crime indicators.

Several bear a close resemblance to the activity described in Banks' complaint.

FATF warned operators to examine customers whose wealth or funds could not be explained, people using third parties to purchase chips or place bets, and patrons with no apparent relationship who shared funds.

It also highlighted hedged wagering, betting on opposing outcomes, and transactions involving little genuine gambling.

Other red flags include withdrawals that are disproportionate to the amount gambled and deposits followed by withdrawals with minimal or no play.

FATF explicitly cautioned that a single indicator is not necessarily evidence of financial crime.

However, it said several indicators involving the same customer or transaction should prompt further examination.

The lawsuit also alleges that the report shown to Nevada regulators was different from the document Banks originally submitted.

Banks says Nevada Gaming Control Board agents showed him Resorts World's version during a March 2026 interview.

He alleges it omitted references to an exception granted under the casino's third-party payment policy, the executive's "cultural" remark, and information about the development of that policy.

Banks submitted complaints to the Department of Labor, FinCEN, and the Justice Department's Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program.

His federal lawsuit accuses Resorts World of violating whistleblower protections under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 and Nevada's wrongful-termination law.

He is seeking reinstatement or front pay, compensatory and punitive damages, legal costs, and a jury trial.

Resorts World said it strongly denies the allegations and characterizations contained in Banks' complaint.