England vs Pakistan Third Test: England Close In on a Series Sweep at Edgbaston
Lara Johns • Sep 11, 2026 
Reviewed By Paul Jacobs
Casino Expert
Preston Banks became a Resorts World whistleblower after 16 years spent fighting money laundering at the U.S. Treasury Department. He claims that background cost him his job.
On Sept. 14, 2026, Banks brought a federal case against the Strip resort. He once ran the casino’s compliance program. His complaint says Resorts World pushed him out for repeatedly flagging a suspicious network of overseas high rollers.
Who Is the Resorts World Whistleblower?
Banks left FinCEN, the Treasury Department’s anti-money-laundering unit, in 2022 to take the Resorts World compliance role. He soon flagged a cluster of patrons whose money he couldn’t trace back to a legitimate source.
The group started small and mostly Argentine, the complaint states. By 2024, its numbers had climbed into the 60-to-150 range. The group by then included Mexican, Paraguayan, Uruguayan, Italian, and Spanish nationals.
Their credit applications, according to Banks, named businesses that were fictitious or untraceable.
He recommended restrictions on third-party casino payments starting in 2023, and the casino adopted them.
Inside the Alleged Scheme
The lawsuit describes a pattern of red flags casinos train staff to catch. Court filings say the group did the following:
- Chip passing and chip walking
- Wagering that looked coordinated, or “coached”
- Unverified funding sources
- Fake or untraceable businesses on credit files
- Minimal gaming paired with bill-stuffing
Each tactic serves the same goal. Specifically, it helps a gambler move money through a casino without a clear paper trail.
By September 2024, staff had logged more than 50 reports flagging suspicious activity tied to the group. Still, Banks alleges executives played down the risk in committee meetings.
A “Cultural” Excuse and a Costly Report
The whistleblower names Al Meranto, whose title at the time was casino operations chief.
Banks says Meranto called the group’s behavior “cultural” during a compliance meeting. He put his findings on the group in writing, calling it the Argentina Scheme, on Sept. 2, 2025.
Just over a week later, the casino barred 28 customers over the alleged scheme. Clark County’s district attorney then took on the matter for debt collection.
The unpaid credit tied to that referral totaled somewhere between $12 million and $13 million.
Resorts World let Banks go on Sept. 29, 2025. Banks says Bob Napierala, the HR director, cited senior leadership as the source of that call.
This part of the lawsuit says the copy shown to regulators had been edited. It claims the “cultural” comment was missing by the time an agent from the Nevada Gaming Control Board reviewed it.
Resorts World Denies the Whistleblower’s Claims
Resorts World’s spokesperson called the lawsuit meritless in comments to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The resort says it denies every allegation in the complaint.
The case follows a costly year for the resort. It paid $10.5 million over gaps in its money-laundering compliance program during the spring of 2025.
That fine ranks as Nevada’s second-biggest gaming penalty on record. The same investigation found bettors connected to unlawful bookmaking activity on site.
Why This Case Matters
Whistleblower protections exist because compliance staff sit closest to the risk. A casino that punishes the people who spot fraud has little reason to fix the fraud itself.
Banks has also brought whistleblower complaints before three federal agencies: the Justice Department, FinCEN, and the Department of Labor. The civil case has not yet reached a hearing.
Cases like this show why real oversight matters before you ever deposit a dollar. When choosing where to play, you can compare regulated online casinos to see which operators meet stricter compliance standards.
The lawsuit is still in its early stages. A federal court will ultimately decide whether Banks did something the law protects.
