Wynn Coverup: Nightlife Exec Allegedly Took Liquor Company Kickbacks

***Update: Wynn provided Casino.org with a statement. It is in bold in the article’s second subhead.***

• Whistleblower says a Wynn Resorts nightlife executive took millions of dollars in kickbacks from liquor companies and distributors
• The source says the executive’s behavior was known to some of the casino operator’s highest-ranking executives
• The nightlife boss remains employed by the gaming company

An assistant vice president overseeing Wynn Las Vegas nightlife operations allegedly engaged in graft with liquor companies and distributors amounting to millions of dollars over several years — allegations that, if proven accurate, could result in felony charges.

A whistleblower speaking on the condition of anonymity told Casino.org that Ryan Jones, the assistant vice president of daylife and nightlife at Wynn Las Vegas, had access to credit cards issued to liquor distributors and manufacturers and exploited that access for personal profit. The source adds that Jones has an aura of invincibility and believes he’s “untouchable.”

They also say that members of the Wynn C-suite, including CEO Craig Billings and COO Brian Gullbrants, may be aware of Jones’s purported misdeeds and have taken a lax attitude toward it. The whistleblower says Billings has a reputation for responding to lengthy emails delivering bad news with “TLTR” – too long to read – and that Gulbrants is more occupied with Wynn’s share price “ticking higher.”

These people are as dirty as the day is long,” said the whistleblower.

They also noted that Wynn has hired an outside law firm to investigate the alleged alcohol kickback scheme, and that the probe is ongoing. Jones remains employed at Wynn Las Vegas, but the whistleblower indicates it’s possible the findings of the internal legal investigation may be presented to Wynn’s board of directors as soon as next month, and that could compel high-ranking executives to terminate Jones. Casino.org reached out to Jones by both phone and text, though he declined to comment.

Also declining to comment on the matter is the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB). This reporter told a spokesperson from the NGCB that the whistleblower confirmed the Nevada regulator has been made aware of the alleged goings on at Wynn, and the representative maintained that they can neither confirm nor deny a pending investigation.

Wynn Exec Could Be in Hot Legal Water

To be clear, Jones isn’t currently facing legal charges. However, the whistleblower and a second source tell Casino.org that if the Wynn nightlife executive is formally charged, it would likely be with felonies, and some of the charges could be federal because the alcohol industry is regulated at the federal level.

The second source adds that if the whistleblower’s claims about Jones drawing on liquor companies’ and distributors’ credit cards for personal profit are accurate, it’s possible that tied house laws were also violated. Tied house laws are designed to prevent alcohol companies and salespeople from wielding undue influence over bars, clubs, restaurants, and retailers.

“We engage a third-party promotions vendor to manage our Title 27 promotional liquor funds,” according to a statement supplied to Casino.org by Wynn.  “The promotions vendor, which is not a liquor distributor or liquor company, also manages other promotions, which are unrelated to Title 27.  The vendor is supposed to bill the Company for all non-Title 27 transactions. The vendor supplied a credit card to be used for Title 27 transactions. The vendor also supplied a separate credit card for non-Title 27 transactions for reimbursement by the Company, which the Company has reimbursed.”

Wynn Las Vegas is a coveted client for any liquor distributor and manufacturer because it and Encore have extensive rosters of bars and restaurants. Those venues, which are in Jones’ domain, include Encore Beach Club (EBC) and XS Nightclub, which are two of the premier venues of their kind on the Strip.

Dirty DJs, Slush Funds

The whistleblower says the behavior in which Jones allegedly engaged — potentially taking bribes from liquor companies and distributors — is endemic around the Las Vegas Strip, clearly stating Wynn isn’t the only gaming operator with employees engaging in nefarious behavior with the alcohol industry.

The whistleblower notes that liquor companies “are essentially paying into slush funds where the clubs are doing whatever they want with the money, which is entirely illegal.” The purported loophole gaming nightlife staff and liquor companies are exploiting is that the capital deposited into the slush funds is placed there by alcohol distributors, which creates the appearance that specific brands or manufacturers aren’t “currying favor” among casino club employees.

The informer adds that the aforementioned outside law firm could send letters to the legal departments of other Strip operators articulating knowledge of the alcohol/nightlife situation and, if the response from Wynn competitors isn’t sufficient, additional action could be taken.

The whistleblower also notes nightclubs located inside Strip casinos aren’t doing the same business they were a few years ago, but some well-known DJs are still earning as much as $400K per appearance. But that money isn’t coming out of gaming companies’ operating budgets. Rather, the source says it’s coming out of the slush funds into which liquor companies supposedly paid.

“This (alcohol companies and casino nightlife staff) is an entire class of people that don’t know how to operate within the law,” said the whistleblower.