Former Resorts World Las Vegas compliance director Preston Banks has filed a federal whistleblower and wrongful-termination suit, alleging that the casino fired him after he raised anti-money-laundering concerns about a group of gamblers he called the “Argentina Scheme.” The suit invokes the whistleblower provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 and a Nevada wrongful-termination claim.
Banks worked at the casino from September 2022 until Sept. 29, 2025. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the action, while the court complaint sets out Banks’ claim that his job included identifying and escalating suspicious activity and documenting findings for the resort’s Bank Secrecy Act and AML programme. He did not have independent power to file suspicious activity reports, ban patrons, make casino-credit decisions or grant policy exceptions, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit says Banks initially identified predominantly Argentine patrons whose stated sources of funds could not be verified because businesses listed on casino-credit applications did not exist or could not be found. By 2024, he alleges, the group had grown to between 60 and 150 people from several countries. Internal records cited in the suit listed red flags including unverified funds, credit fraud, repeated third-party marker payments, chip passing and chip walking, minimal gambling and offsetting bets.
Banks says he began recommending tighter restrictions in 2023, including limits on third-party payments. Although some recommendations were adopted, the complaint alleges that his supervisors and the resort’s AML committee minimized concerns, delayed review and took inadequate action. More than 50 suspicious activity reports concerning the patrons had been filed by Sept. 11, 2024, according to reporting on the complaint.
Federal rules require casinos to file a report with FinCEN when a suspicious transaction relevant to a possible legal or regulatory violation involves at least $5,000. The report is generally due within 30 days of initial detection, though the deadline can extend to 60 days if no suspect is identified. FinCEN guidance says proof of illegality is not necessary before reporting suspicious activity.
In the first half of 2025, Banks alleges, executive vice-president of casino operations Al Meranto described some of the patrons’ activity as “cultural.” Banks submitted a detailed report on the alleged scheme to chief compliance officer Jennifer Roberts and other compliance staff on Sept. 2, 2025.
Nine days later, Resorts World banned 28 patrons linked to alleged credit fraud and referred accounts involving about $12 million to $13 million in unpaid casino credit to the Clark County district attorney’s office for collection. Banks was dismissed 27 days after submitting his report. The complaint alleges that human-resources director Bob Napierala told him the termination was because of the Argentina Scheme and that the decision came from the “C-suite.”
Banks further alleges that a version of his report supplied to the Nevada Gaming Control Board was altered. At a March 2026 meeting with a board agent, he says he identified omissions including the alleged “cultural” remark and information on a disputed exception to a third-party-payment policy.
Resorts World strongly denied the allegations and characterisations in the lawsuit, calling the case a frivolous action and saying it would address the claims in the appropriate forum. The dispute follows the resort’s March 2025 agreement to pay a $10.5 million fine to settle a regulatory complaint concerning AML failures and gamblers with links to illegal bookmaking. Resorts World subsequently overhauled its leadership structure and appointed Roberts to the newly created chief compliance officer role in April 2025.
Banks filed an OSHA whistleblower complaint on Dec. 5, 2025, and also submitted complaints to FinCEN and the Justice Department’s Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program. OSHA has not ruled on the federal complaint, and no hearing date has been set in the civil case. Banks is seeking reinstatement or front pay, double back pay with interest, compensatory and punitive damages, and legal fees.
