After years of delays, the sentencing for former Las Vegas high roller and “entrepreneur“ Robert Alexander has been set.
Alexander will finally be sentenced on January 14 in New York after being convicted of one count of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud in January 2020.
Key Highlights
- Alexander stole $1.3 million from Kizzang investors for personal use
- He has claimed a variety of illnesses to delay sentencing for years
- Alexander once got in an altercation with gambler RJ Cipriani at Resorts World Las Vegas
Stole $1.3 Million From Investors
Alexander founded online gaming company Kizzang, promising potential investors that they would make at least ten times their investment if they entrusted their money with him. It was all lies; he bilked his investors out of $1.3 million, which he spent on gambling, rent, cars, and personal debt.
And these were not small amounts that just added up. According to court documents, he spent $580,000 of his investors’ money on rent alone and withdrew almost $280,000 at casinos.
Among the lies he told investors, one stands out as especially egregious.
Alexander learned that one person he might be able to hook had a specific interest in philanthropy. To reel him in, Alexander falsely claimed that he had once donated $50 million to a California hospital to help construct a new prenatal wing.
Alleged Illnesses Delayed Sentencing
Sentencing has been delayed for several years because Robert Alexander and his legal counsel continued to claim that he had various ailments that made him too ill to appear in court. He was originally scheduled for sentencing on May 7, 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic understandably required a postponement.
In a November 2023 conference call, Alexander’s attorneys told US District Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. that he was in a coma and thus could not travel to New York for sentencing.
He is in an induced coma. The hospital was recommending that the family members converge upon the hospital to talk about last rites.
– Robert Alexander’s Attorney
“He is in an induced coma,” the lawyers said. “There was at one point — the hospital was recommending that the family members converge upon the hospital to talk about last rites.”
Alexander allegedly fought cancer more than once, was electrocuted, and had multiple eye surgeries, plus complications from one of them. His attorneys, at one point, blamed his legal situation for some of his health issues.
Alexander and Resorts World
Also in 2023, another high roller, Robert “RJ” Cipriani, sued Resorts World Las Vegas and former President and Chief Operating Officer Scott Sibella for allowing known criminals to gamble at the casino despite his bringing it to their attention. One of the people he named was Robert Alexander.
Cipriani and Alexander got into a confrontation at the casino in 2021, resulting in Cipriani taking Alexander’s cell phone. Cipriani claimed that Alexander had been harassing him. Cipriani was arrested, but the charges were later dropped.
Resorts World Las Vegas and Scott Sibella have a history of allowing shady characters to use the casino for both gambling and business.
In August 2024, the Nevada Gaming Control Board filed a complaint alleging that Resorts World allowed known illegal bookie Matthew Bowyer and others to bet millions of dollars without verifying the source of their funds.
Bowyer was the bookmaker through whom Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, bet. Mizuhara ended up stealing almost $17 million from Ohtani to pay gambling debts.
Earlier this year, Sibella pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws while President of MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
He not only allowed ex-minor league baseball player Wayne Nix, another illegal bookmaker, to gamble at MGM Grand, but also showered him with comps like golf trips, meals, and free hotel stays.
Most recently, professional poker player Damien LeForbes pleaded guilty to money laundering and operating an illegal bookmaking operation, using Resorts World as a vehicle for moving funds.
The plea deal says he gambled $148 million at Resorts World (called “Casino A” in court documents) and laundered $9 million in checks through the casino. He also used cryptocurrency and Resorts World casino chips to pay his clients.
Sources
https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/former-vegas-high-roller-online-gaming-founder-to-be-sentenced-for-fraud-3175956/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12762311/Robert-Alexander-GTA-Kizzang-sentencing.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12614799/Cipriani-Resorts-World-Scott-Sibella.html
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/1130161/dl
https://cdcgaming.com/commentary/after-many-delays-kizzang-investment-scammer-faces-up-to-27-months-in-federal-prison/
https://www.onlineunitedstatescasinos.com/news/damien-leforbes-pleads-guilty-395959/
