A former compliance director at Resorts World Las Vegas has sued the operator, alleging he was fired for repeatedly warning executives about a group of international gamblers he called the “Argentina Scheme.” Preston Banks filed the whistleblower and wrongful-termination lawsuit in U.S. District Court on September 14, 2026, according to Casino.org, which the Las Vegas Review-Journal also reports .
Banks claims retaliation under the federal Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 and wrongful termination under Nevada law. He is seeking reinstatement or front pay, double back pay with interest, compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees and punitive damages, Casino.org reports.
Banks joined Resorts World in September 2022 after roughly 16 years as a regulatory specialist at the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, both outlets report. According to his complaint, he identified a small cluster of patrons, initially described as predominantly Argentine, whose stated sources of funds and listed businesses could not be verified. By 2024, the group had allegedly grown to between 60 and 150 people from Argentina, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay, Italy and Spain.
Internal records cited in the suit describe activity including unverified funds, credit fraud, repeated third-party marker payments, coordinated wagering, chip passing, chip walking, bankrolling, minimal gaming and offsetting bets. Banks says he recommended restrictions on certain third-party payments as early as 2023, and that the recommendations were adopted, but he alleges the company’s anti-money-laundering committee repeatedly downplayed the concerns.
The Sept. 2, 2025 report and Banks’ firing
By September 2024, more than 50 suspicious activity reports had reportedly been filed on the group. Banks alleges an executive vice president of casino operations, Al Meranto, characterized the activity as “cultural” during one internal meeting. Banks then submitted a comprehensive report on September 2, 2025 to chief compliance officer Jennifer Roberts, according to Casino.org. Nine days later, Resorts World banned 28 patrons tied to the alleged credit fraud and referred their accounts to the Clark County district attorney to pursue roughly $12 million to $13 million in unpaid casino credit.
Banks was terminated on September 29, 2025. He alleges his supervisor and human resources director Bob Napierala told him the decision came from “the C-suite,” to which Banks says he responded, “I detected it, you’re killing the author,” according to Casino.org.
Altered report allegation before the Gaming Control Board
The lawsuit also alleges Resorts World altered the report Banks submitted to regulators. During a March 2026 meeting with a Nevada Gaming Control Board agent, Banks says he was shown a version of his report that had omitted the “cultural” remark and details about a disputed exception to third-party payment policy. Banks has separately filed complaints with the Department of Labor, FinCEN and the Justice Department’s Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program. OSHA has not yet ruled on his federal complaint, and no hearing date has been set in the civil case, Casino.org reports.
Resorts World called the lawsuit frivolous. A company spokesperson told the Review-Journal it “strongly denies the allegations and characterizations in the lawsuit” and would address the claims in court.
The Review-Journal notes that Resorts World agreed in March 2025 to pay a $10.5 million fine, the second-largest in Nevada gaming history, to settle a state regulatory complaint over anti-money-laundering failures and patrons tied to illegal bookmaking. The company subsequently overhauled its executive leadership, formed a new board of directors, and created the chief compliance officer post that Roberts filled in April 2025.
