Two former Nevada gaming regulators were licensed Thursday as managers and directors of Resorts World Las Vegas, a move the Nevada Gaming Commission hopes will increase anti-money laundering enforcement at the Strip resort.
Former Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, who also served as attorney general and as a federal court judge in the state, is currently president of the University of Nevada, Reno, and former Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman AG Burnett, a partner in McDonald Carano’s gaming and administrative law firm, were unanimously approved for licensing.
Sandoval chaired the Gaming Commission from 1999 to 2001 and Burnett chaired the Board of Control from 2012 to 2017.
Resorts World is counting on Sandoval and Burnett’s solid reputation to bolster the property’s AML compliance program after regulators fined the resort and its Genting Berhad parent company $10.5 million, the second-highest fine ever levied against a Nevada casino, in March 2025.
Two other Resorts World executives, Keong Hui Lim and Kong Han Tan, were also licensed, but were excused from attending Thursday’s hour-long hearing.
Commissioners asked Sandoval and Burnett about their roles on the Resorts World board.
Sandoval said he often discusses AML compliance with Jennifer Roberts, the company’s chief compliance officer, and makes sure she has the resources necessary to do her job properly.
The commissioners said they are confident that Sandoval and Burnett would operate “beyond reproach” and that they would be “independent in doing what is right.”
But that wasn’t the case more than a year ago when the comptroller’s board issued a 10-count, 27-page complaint against Resorts World for allowing illegal gambling.
“Despite having an AML (anti-money laundering) program and apparently training its employees, Resorts World allowed a culture to exist at its gaming facility where individuals with suspected and actual ties to illegal bookmaking, with a history of federal criminal convictions related to illegal gambling operations are welcomed at Resorts World, provided their business and allowed to bet money and money to receive bets and discounts. sums of money at Resorts World, the first said the complaint on August 15.
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