A US federal watchdog agency has slapped a $1m fine on a Nevada casino for its “wilful disregard for anti-money laundering laws.”

On Tuesday, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a branch for the US Treasury Department, levied a $1m penalty on Sparks Nugget Inc., which operates the Nugget Casino Resort (previously known as John Ascuaga’s Nugget) in Sparks, Nevada.

FinCEN says Sparks Nugget “egregiously” violated its AML responsibilities under the Bank Secrecy Act, including disregarding the recommendations of the casino’s own compliance manager, choosing not to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) the manager had prepared and ordering her not to interact with Internal Revenue Service auditors.

Sparks also failed to report several Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs), committed “hundreds” of recordkeeping violations, and its day-to-day managers “maintained that no suspicious activity ever transpired in the millions of dollars of transactions” at the casino.