Former Vegas high roller’s run of legal luck mysteriously continues

Wednesday, January 17, 2024 6:55 PM
  • Commercial Casinos
  • John L. Smith, CDC Gaming

The season of miracles has passed, but you don’t have to look far to find something mysterious and strange where controversial high roller and convicted fraudster Robert Alexander is concerned.

Back in 2020, Alexander pleaded guilty in federal court in New York in connection with a $1.3 million fraud investigation of his Kizzang LLC gaming-platform company. He notably used some of the money he raised to support his upscale lifestyle and high-rolling gambling forays in Las Vegas, where some of his closest pals were also among his financial backers.

Before Alexander could be sentenced, however, his attorney informed the judge that his client was suffering from a dangerous eye issue that prevented him from traveling for his sentencing. The sentencing was postponed — one would think temporarily.

That delay led to a second, then a third, as Alexander, poor fellow, continued to have medical challenges that kept him from learning his fate before the bar of justice. Come to think of it, it also kept him from going to prison.

If this story sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because I wrote about it last year at this time. And the year before.

If Alexander’s story were an old-fashioned movie, this would be the part where a gust of wind blows the pages of a calendar off the wall. Month after month passed. Birthdays and anniversaries came and went. People of good will celebrated their holidays.

And Robert Alexander still didn’t go to jail.

In a status conference call last year before U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr., the court learned that Alexander would be unable to participate in a sentencing hearing, because he was in a medically induced coma. The court also was informed that Alexander’s health continued to plague him. From cancer to eye woes, the high roller who used a battery-powered scooter to get around the casino was in tough shape.

Alexander wasn’t always shy about appearing in court, however. After an absurd dustup with gambler Robert Cipriani, no saint himself, Alexander claimed to have been battered in an incident at Resorts World Las Vegas. Cipriani wound up arrested for felonies, although after a negotiation, the charges were reduced to a glorified traffic ticket.

Cipriani, also known as “Robin Hood 702,” wasn’t satisfied with managing to walk away from the legal fight. He continued his one-man jihad against the Strip casino’s management, then led by Scott Sibella. The experienced gaming executive is no longer employed at the resort after becoming the subject of Cipriani’s scathing assessments, observations, accusations, and rhetorical spitballs. In September, Sibella was fired from his position as president and chief operating officer at Resorts World after the company “was made aware that Mr. Sibella violated company policies and the terms of his employment.” The departure came despite Sibella being “cleared” in a Gaming Control Board investigation into questions about the Strip resort’s relationship with a restaurant partially owned by a convicted felon.

Today, Sibella is defending a lawsuit filed by Cipriani in connection with their Resorts World dispute. Cipriani is also locked in delayed arbitration with the medically fragile Alexander, who lost not only his consciousness, but his attorneys associated with that case.

Meanwhile, Alexander has emerged from his coma, though he remains unavailable to settle his beef with Cipriani. His felony sentencing in New York has been put off until who knows when and at this point, who really cares? Despite his many maladies, he’s managed to run circles around the justice system.

If it all sounds like the plot of a long and weird soap opera where the star awakens from his coma and finds out all his troubles have been just a crazy dream, I think you’re starting to get the idea.