FinCEN imposed a $1 million civil penalty on Nevada casino Sparks Nugget, Inc. d/b/a John Ascuaga's Nugget ("Sparks Nugget") due to willful violations of the anti-money laundering provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) stemming from an ineffective internal compliance program. Sparks Nugget admitted that it excluded its BSA compliance manager from auditing and exam processes and failed to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) for transactions at its facilities. To address SAR compliance issues, Sparks Nugget created a pro forma committee that never met—in fact, several members were unaware that they were part of the group. Nevada Gaming Commissioner Michonne Ascuaga, Sparks Nuggets' former CEO, resigned in February 2016 amid news of FinCEN's investigation.
To read more, see the article in The Wall Street Journal.
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