Casino operator Las Vegas Sands has agreed to pay a $9m penalty to wrap up a federal investigation of alleged bribery involving its Asian operations.

On Thursday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the penalty, which it imposed following a five-year investigation of Sands’ activities in Asia. As far back as March 2013, Sands had admitted its Asian operations had committed “likely violations” of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which bars US companies from bribing foreign officials.

The SEC says its probe found that Sands lacked proper documentation on over $62m in payments to an Asian consultant who served as a “beard” to purchase companies and properties on the Chinese mainland, where gambling is illegal.

Said ‘beard’ received $6m to purchase a Chinese basketball team, which gambling companies were legally prohibited from owning. Sands paid this consultant a further $8m to cover the team’s operating costs. Sands’ own records found that around $700k of these costs couldn’t be accounted for, yet Sands continue to provide their beard with cash.