Former Vegas high roller, online gaming founder to be sentenced for fraud

A sentencing date has been set for an internet entrepreneur and former Las Vegas casino high roller who pleaded guilty to multiple counts of fraud more than four years ago.

Robert Alexander, the founder of online gaming company Kizzang, will be sentenced Jan. 14, according to records from the U.S. District Court of Southern New York. In January 2020, Alexander admitted to defrauding business investors out of more than $1.3 million which he used for gambling excursions to multiple casinos, luxury cars, rent and personal credit cards.

He was convicted of one count each of securities and wire fraud. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Alexander could spend up to 27 months in prison.

Kizzang was a Nevada limited liability company established in 2013 that offered free online games and contests. The company ceased operations in 2017, according to the two-count indictment filed against Alexander in 2019.

Court documents say Alexander withdrew nearly $280,000 of the stolen funds at various casinos and used almost $580,000 on rental expenses for his personal residence.

Since his 2020 guilty plea, Alexander’s attorney has requested — and been granted — multiple postponements due to his client’s alleged poor health.

In 2021, Alexander was involved in an altercation with professional gambler Robert “RJ” Cipriani at Resorts World Las Vegas. The incident at the Strip casino property resulted in Cipriani, who goes by the X/Twitter handle “Robinhood 702,” being arrested and eventually charged with larceny and robbery. Those charges against Cipriani were dismissed in 2022.

Resorts World, which opened in June 2021, has been a recurring backdrop in a series of gambling scandals that have already resulted in multiple arrests and federal convictions and victimized Major League Baseball’s biggest international superstar. Most notably, the Strip casino was frequented by recently convicted illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer, who was the bookie for Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani.

Scott Sibella, the casino’s president and chief operating officer between pre-opening 2019 through September 2023, pleaded guilty to violating a provision of the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act during his tenure overseeing MGM Grand casino-hotel. Nevada gaming regulators reportedly have an active investigation into Sibella, the details of which have not been publicly disclosed.

Last month, Nevada gaming regulators filed a 12-count complaint against Resorts World, alleging a culture in which “individuals with suspected and actual ties to illegal bookmaking, with histories of federal convictions related to illegal gambling businesses, and with a history of ties to organized crime,” were “welcomed” and enticed to gamble.