Under a federal non-prosecution agreement, the Wynn Las Vegas consented to pay $130 million in September 2024 for conspiring with unlicensed money-transmitting companies and neglecting to maintain sufficient anti-money-laundering (AML) protections. It was the biggest forfeiture of its kind ever levied against a US casino.

The mechanics underlying the misbehavior are now revealed by fresh information unearthed by a CNN investigation. This includes certain Wynn VIP hosts' involvement in money laundering for underground Chinese banks that may have ties to prostitution networks, drug cartels, and human smuggling organizations.

A few federal cases in San Diego against four Chinese nationals living in Las Vegas—Lei Zhang, Bing Han, Liang Zhou, and Fan Wang—were at the center of the plot.

According to court documents, all four of them entered guilty pleas by 2020 to running an unlawful money transmission company that mostly served Chinese gamblers who required US currency to play in Las Vegas casinos.

The Cash Pipeline

According to those data, Zhang obtained large amounts of US dollars from third sources and supplied it to American gamblers. According to investigators CNN spoke with, the cash may have come from Mexican drug cartels, human smuggling networks, and prostitution operations.

The gamblers then used Chinese mobile banking apps to transfer the same amount of yuan to accounts under Zhang's or his associates' control. This made it possible for the transactions to get around Chinese capital-outflow restrictions as well as US financial reporting regulations.

Zhang acknowledged that casino hosts at Wynn and other locations frequently introduced him to patrons. According to admissions from the Justice Department and his sentencing document, hosts stood to gain from more cash play by high-roller patrons and occasionally earned a portion of his commission.

Phone records referenced in the CNN report show that the Wynn hosts spoke with the guys hundreds of times a week.

According to a related guilty plea document for Wang, he was also frequently presented to patrons by casino hosts who were aware that the gamers required money to continue gambling.

Sting in a Hotel Room

According to investigators CNN spoke with, an undercover agent pretending to be a gambler set up a meeting with Zhang in a hotel room in Las Vegas in May 2019.

Arriving with a backpack, Zhang was accompanied by a lady who investigators identified as a "madam" in charge of prostitution.

Agents discovered four brick-sized piles of cash totaling about $150,000 when they entered the room. The woman allegedly brought some of the money from her prostitution company and wanted to oversee the transfer, according to investigators who spoke to CNN.

Zhang subsequently received a 15-month prison sentence and a $150K forfeiture order. According to DOJ announcements, the three others also consented to forfeit hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The federal investigation that led to Wynn's 2024 settlement was informed by evidence from the four Las Vegas instances, according to investigators. The DOJ's deal also mentioned past wrongdoing that dates back to 2014, such as proxy gambling schemes with international clients and "flying money" transfers.

Money for Drugs

US officials have cautioned that Mexican drug cartels prefer to use this type of clandestine banking, which is dominated by Chinese brokers, to dump large amounts of cash proceeds from fentanyl and other drugs. According to prosecutor Mark Pletcher, the underground banking issue is "in the nine-figure range" every year.

According to Wynn, the corporation has now reinforced internal controls, the behavior was historical, and the accused employes were fired. The operator also mentioned the creation of an independent oversight committee following the government inquiry and additional compliance staffers.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board penalized Wynn $5.5 million in May 2025 for state-level AML offenses related to the federal forfeiture.