LAS VEGAS (AP) – Nevada gambling regulators are investigating the sexual misconduct allegations against casino mogul Steve Wynn.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board announced the investigation in a statement late Tuesday.
The board says it opened the probe after completing a review, but it did not provide any details. Board chairwoman Becky Harris declined to comment beyond her statement.
“After completing our review the Nevada Gaming Control Board is conducting an investigation with regard to the allegations of sexual misconduct involving Steve Wynn,” Harris said in the statement. “The Nevada Gaming Control Board will conduct its investigation in a thorough and judicious manner.”
Former Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Wynn — chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts — could face severe discipline from gaming regulators, including a six-figure or seven-figure fine and even a license revocation.
Burnett told the newspaper the control board has broad powers to get information from witnesses, and investigators will be allowed to ask a broad range of questions.
“They can go to any employee, from the CEO on down, to get to try to get to the bottom of what was alleged to have occurred,” Burnett said.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that a number of women said they were harassed or assaulted by Wynn. One case led to a $7.5 million settlement with a manicurist.
Wynn, 76, has denied the allegations. He called the idea that he ever assaulted any woman “preposterous.” He is accused of pressuring former employees to perform sex acts, including forcing the manicurist to have sex with him in 2005.
After tumbling a combined 19 percent in the wake of the sexual misconduct allegations Friday and Monday, Wynn Resorts stock crept back up almost 5 percent Tuesday, closing at $171.39 on the Nasdaq.
The board of directors of Wynn Resorts has said a committee of independent directors would investigate the allegations. It will be headed by Patricia Mulroy, a Wynn Resorts board member and a former member of the Nevada Gaming Commission.
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, who appoints the members of the board, on Tuesday told The Associated Press he was “disturbed, saddened and deeply troubled” by the allegations.
“There is no place and there should be zero tolerance for sexual harassment in the workplace,” he said. “As governor, I will continue to work to ensure that all Nevadans work in a safe and respectful env ironment. Anything less is unacceptable.”
Since 2013, Wynn has contributed nearly $2.4 million to GOP candidates and party organizations around the country, including Sandoval and 2017 special election winners. Some Republicans in Congress, including Nevada’s Dean Heller, have already announced they are donating contributions they received from Wynn to charity.
Wynn resigned Saturday as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee.
The union representing more than 50,000 casino workers in Las Vegas, including 5,500 housekeepers, cooks, bartenders and food and cocktail servers at Wynn’s two casino-hotels, plans to strengthen the language against sexual harassment in contracts when it begins negotiations next month with the majority of operators, but not Wynn Resorts. The contracts of the company’s unionized workers are not up for negotiations yet.
“We are deeply disturbed by these accusations against Steve Wynn and support a full and fair investigatio n regarding these allegations,” Geoconda Argüello-Kline, the Culinary Union secretary-treasurer, said in a statement. The organization will also ask “panic buttons” for every housekeeper.
Gambling regulators in Massachusetts, where Wynn’s company is building a roughly $2 billion casino just outside Boston, are also looking into the allegations.
In addition, the China arm of Wynn’s casino empire has said it will comply with Macau regulators as they seek more information. Macau, a former Portuguese colony near Hong Kong, is the world’s most lucrative casino market and the main source of profits for Wynn and other foreign gambling companies.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Nevada Independent contributed to this article.
