Car wash could be fined $10K by gaming commission
The Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday will consider disciplinary action against a restricted gaming licensee in a case that sounds almost like a “Breaking Bad” subplot.
Commissioners will consider issuing a $10,000 fine against LV Station Management Inc., which operates the Country Club Auto Spa on South Eastern Avenue and is owned by Ali Pourdastan, the licensee.
In addition to the proposed action against Country Club Auto Spa — a car wash, convenience store and gasoline station that once had five slot machines — commissioners also on Thursday will consider disciplinary action against MGNV LLC, operators of the Mohegan Sun Casino at Las Vegas Virgin Hotels.
The Control Board last week posted a 17-page complaint against Mohegan Sun, one of three partners that operate the recently opened Las Vegas Virgin Hotels. The five-count Mohegan complaint specifically cited patrons not wearing face coverings and not engaging in proper social distancing during the party for the opening of the hotel-casino.
The new complaint against Country Club Auto Spa involves operators failing to designate a “key employee” to oversee management of the slot machines at the store. The operators could face a $10,000 fine based on the commission’s pending action.
According to the Control Board’s complaint, first issued June 14, the operators of the Auto Spa designated a key employee when the store was licensed in March 2017. But that person left the store in December 2018 and operators never filed an application with regulators to replace him.
In December 2020, the second employee left and the company failed to file an application to replace him.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police Department concluded an investigation in March 2020 after being anonymously tipped about allegations of illegal narcotic activity was occurring at the Auto Spa.
Metro had executed a search warrant on Dec. 17, 2020, in connection with the investigation and discovered a stolen gun, illegal narcotics and a scale in its search.
The three persons designated as key employees eventually were arrested with one admitting to the sale of methamphetamine on the site, the second arrested for five outstanding no-bail warrants for gun and drug offenses and the third employee was discovered to have lived in an attic at the Auto Spa, a violation of Clark County codes.
The Auto Spa had hired Century Gaming Technology as its licensed slot operator to monitor the store’s machines when the company was initially licensed and Century removed the five slot machines on Dec. 21, 2020.
In the TV show “Breaking Bad,” the main character, who manufactured and sold methamphetamine, operated a car wash as a money-laundering cover.
The six-count complaint against the Auto Spa and Pourdastan cites the store’s unsuitability of operation and violations of Regulation 5 for Auto Spa’s “failure to exercise discretion and sound judgment to prevent incidents which might reflect on the repute of the state of Nevada and act as a detriment to the development of the industry.”
In a stipulation for settlement under consideration by the Gaming Commission signed June 11 by the three Gaming Control Board members, Pourdastan and his attorney, the store agreed to pay a $10,000 fine to settle the case. There’s no indication whether the Auto Spa owners will object to the proposed settlement.
The commission has the option of fining the licensee as well as suspending or revoking the license.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.
