Vegas Shooter Had Over 200 Reports of Suspicious Activities Filed

As authorities begin to learn more about Stephen Paddock, the man who launched the attack that killed 59 people and injured more than 500 more in Las Vegas on Sunday, one of the most suspicious things about him turned out to be his financial patterns.

Paddock’s recent financial transactions have become a key focus for investigators looking to learn more about the 64-year-old Nevada man.

In the last three years alone, more than 200 reports about Paddock’s activities (like large casino transactions) have been filed with law enforcement authorities, a source close to the investigation told ABC News.

While some of those reports were filed as “suspicious activity,” most of them were “currency transaction reports.” Casinos are required to file currency transaction reports with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network when someone withdraws or deposits more than $10,000 in cash.

So what does the sheer number of reports reflect about Paddock? At the very least, that he routinely gambled with large amounts of money.

For example, his brother, Eric Paddock, told the Associated Press that Stephen Paddock recently won $40,000 at a slot machine.

“That’s the way he played,” Eric Paddock said. He also described him as a multimillionaire and said the two had business dealings and owned property together.

One law enforcement official told ABC News that “currency transaction reports” are “not necessarily suspicious,” especially “if you’re a high roller.”

But what about those “suspicious activity reports” filed under Paddock’s name? Treasury Department statistics show that a total of 13,736 were filed last year with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security Committee who have been briefed on the FBI’s investigation say there isn’t enough suspicious financial activity to indicate Paddock was gambling out of debt.

“Bottom line, this man was a gambler, but I do not believe there is sufficient evidence to show that he was under stress financially from gambling at the time this incident occurred,” Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, told ABC News.

Paddock recently sent tens of thousands of dollars to someone in the Philippines, where his longtime girlfriend was at the time of the attacks, and authorities are still trying to determine who received the money, according to ABC News. Paddock’s girlfriend is originally from the Philippines and expected to return to the U.S. on Wednesday.