Although it has been a few years, Wang Dong and Luo Qing are no strangers to this city.

In fact, Las Vegas hasn't changed much over the years.

Why?

In the case of the overall economic recession, it will definitely be difficult for a tourist city like Las Vegas to achieve better development.

As for the gambling industry, the same is true.

You know, just a few years ago, another gambling city in the United States, Atlantic City, had declared bankruptcy due to business difficulties, several large casinos closed their doors one after another, and thousands of employees have changed careers, and many have even left the declining city.

Monaco across the Atlantic Ocean is about the same.

Las Vegas can survive mainly because of its large size, and many of the established casinos are in the process of transforming or have already completed their transformation.

If you don't do casinos, what are you doing?

Of course, it is still a casino, but it is not mainly in the gaming industry, but in conjunction with the financial industry, that is, banks, to do financial services related to gambling.

To put it more bluntly, it is actually money laundering for illegal organizations such as gangsters and drug dealers.

Know that casinos are the best way to launder money.

It's as simple as taking cash to the casino to buy chips and exchanging them for a check when you leave, or transferring them directly to a bank account.

After a walk around the casino, the illegal funds become legitimate income.

Although there are no exact statistics, it is estimated that tens of billions of dollars of illegal money are laundered by Las Vegas casinos every year.

In fact, it's not just drug dealers and gangsters who come here to launder money.

What else?

A large number of secret services.

Three years ago, during the Fourth Indo-Pakistani War, a huge scandal broke out, in which several US intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the NSA, obtained huge amounts of money from unknown sources through illegal channels, and some of them fell into the hands of the heads of these agencies.

Although the matter was finally closed and no in-depth investigation was conducted, it is speculated that many of these funds came from India.

What the?

The cost of purchasing military intelligence from US intelligence agencies by India.

Moreover, the investigation did not proceed only because the FBI was also involved in it, and several high-ranking officials were suspected of taking bribes from Indian intelligence agents.

You know, the CIA has more than $10 billion in secret funding every year.

In addition, the NSA is only a little more.

How to spend this money is also a huge problem.

Why?

If it can be spent openly, it is not a secret fund.

There are many ways to spend money in the account, but how to transfer the funds to the place, and be able to bypass the regulatory system of other agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Bureau, is a big problem, even a science, so sometimes you have to use private money laundering channels.

Of course, there are also many unofficial secret agencies, such as a large number of private defense companies.

In fact, these private defense companies are the main customers of Las Vegas' casinos, or banks.

Why?

Last year, more than $150 billion in private security contracts were awarded by the U.S. Department of Defense, most of which were awarded to U.S. private defense companies.

What to do with it?

Acting for the U.S. military around the world, especially in high-risk places.

In addition, it is to do something that is not visible.

For example, the war going on in Angola must have something to do with the U.S. Department of Defense or the intelligence agencies, and if they want to send money to mercenaries in South Africa, they have to filter the money through banks in Las Vegas, or similar money laundering agencies.

It took several changes of hands to avoid being investigated.

Of course, when it comes to handling funds, private defense companies prefer to go through gray channels.

Why?

Tax avoidance.

You know, if you go through the formal channels, the taxes just paid are extremely staggering, and most private defense companies don't care about the status of taxpayers.

In addition, mercenaries who work in private defense companies do not care about the status of taxpayers.

As a result, these businesses and individuals avoid taxes in a variety of ways, with casinos being the most effective way to launder money.

The reason is simple.

Money won at the casino is not subject to high personal income tax.

In addition, it is possible to "lose" money to the casino and then transfer it through the casino to an overseas account, such as an account with a private bank in the Cayman Islands.

In this way, there is no need to pay personal income tax in the United States.

Of course, there are many other benefits as well.

For example, when it comes to the purchase of illegal weapons, especially those that are regulated, private defence companies will certainly make use of underground channels.

If you need to buy arms from the underground black market, you need to transfer funds through casinos.

It is important to know that in many volatile areas, private defense companies with defense orders from the U.S. federal government use more or less heavily regulated weapons, such as landmines, which are explicitly prohibited from use, and incendiary bombs that can cause serious harm to civilians.

When it comes to illegal actions, such as the overthrow of a country's regime, it is even more necessary to channel funds through underground channels.

These needs are the key to the sustainability of Las Vegas.

Of course, this also changed Las Vegas.

On the surface, Las Vegas remains the world's largest gambling city and a tourist destination, with millions of tourists visiting the city every year.

It's just that there are far fewer gamblers here.

What's more, the Las Vegas authorities are also making adjustments, such as starting to impose restrictions on the gambling industry and even tightening controls on hotels.

Why?

There are so many mercenaries, gangsters and drug dealers here.

As a result, Las Vegas overtook Miami as one of the most crime and dangerous cities in the United States.

Last year alone, there have been hundreds of homicides.

It can be said that almost every day, every hour, there is a crime here.

Is this still that Las Vegas?

Wang Dong wasn't sure, but he wasn't interested.

Instead of going to a big hotel in the city, they found a motel in the suburbs.

As for what to do next, Wang Dong hasn't thought about it yet.

Mainly, the clues are really limited.

Although Nicholas found several banks and casinos with close dealings with these banks, he couldn't just break into the bank, and he might not find anything when he went to the casino, after all, the casino was just a place for transactions, just like a vegetable market.

What's more, the news of their arrival in the United States may have already spread.

If it is already known, then go directly to the casino, and you will definitely get into trouble.