{"id":808,"date":"2025-08-04T23:22:03","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T23:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/?p=808"},"modified":"2025-09-22T12:10:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:10:17","slug":"hard-rock-sacks-pariente-following-dominican-casino-controversies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/04\/hard-rock-sacks-pariente-following-dominican-casino-controversies\/","title":{"rendered":"Hard Rock Sacks Pariente Following Dominican Casino Controversies"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Pariente relieved of duties at Hard Rock Punta Cana casino resort following internal probe into allegations of money structuring, unpaid markers<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Another staffer allegedly acting at Pariente\u2019s behest also fired<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>News emerges after series of Casino.org articles exposing Pariente\u2019s purported misdeeds in Dominican Republic and Las Vegas<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Hard Rock International has relieved Alex Pariente of his duties as corporate senior vice president of casino and hotel operations following an internal probe into allegations of money structuring and unpaid markers at Hard Rock Hotel &amp; Casino Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic &#8212; an investigation sparked by a recent series of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"><em>Casino.org<\/em><\/a> articles.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_355870\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-355870\" data-style=\"width: 430px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-355870 size-post-thumbnail-430xAUTO lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Alex Pariente\" width=\"430\" height=\"602\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP-430x602-1.jpg\"><figcaption>Now former Hard Rock International executive Alex Pariente. The gaming company terminated him today following an investigation into his role in money structuring and allowing markers to go unpaid at a Dominican casino. (Image: X)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A source confirmed to <em>Casino.org<\/em> earlier today that Pariente, who had been with Hard Rock International since February 2019, was terminated. Also fired was his assistant, Silvia Mendez. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-exec-pariente-let-markers-go-unpaid-took-bookies-action-say-sources\/\"><em>Casino.org\u2019s<\/em> initial piece<\/a> on the Pariente imbroglio, a whistleblower speaking on the condition of anonymity provided a recording confirming that Mendez, at her boss\u2019s behest, took part in money structuring practices to help select high rollers visiting the Punta Cana casino.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>In that recording, Mendez discusses separating $100,000 in cash brought to the resort by a Chinese gambler into dozens of transactions to skirt money transfer protocols. Given the amount of money and Hard Rock\u2019s status as an operator beholden to US regulators, proof of funds was required to comply with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/california-casino-fined-900k-anti-money-laundering-failures\/\">anti-money laundering rules<\/a>, but the patron didn\u2019t have that proof.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mendez had worked in administrative capacities at the Dominican casino hotel for more than 15 years, according to her LinkedIn profile.<\/p>\n<h2>Hard Rock Took Swift Action<\/h2>\n<p>In the Pariente matter, Hard Rock moved decisively. <em>Casino.org\u2019s<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-informed-of-pariente-money-misdeeds-in-2020-says-whistleblower\/\">second article<\/a>, citing a second whistleblower that confirmed and elaborated upon Pariente\u2019s alleged mishandling of anti-money laundering and compliance rules in the Dominican Republic,\u00a0 was published on June 27. Two days later, the gaming company <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-suspends-pariente-commences-internal-investigation\/\">announced Pariente\u2019s suspension<\/a> and the start of internal investigation.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p>Hard Rock International has completed its initial investigation in connection with recent public allegations regarding executives at Hard Rock Punta Cana Casino and can confirm it has separated with the executive in question,\u201d according to a statement provided to <em>Casino.org<\/em> by the gaming company. \u201cThis thorough examination included independent parties from two of the nation\u2019s most respected law firms who specialize in gaming regulatory and compliance issues to ensure objective analysis of our operations, reflecting our brand\u2019s commitment to upholding ethical standards in all our business practices.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Hard Rock added it takes seriously such matters. The statement was specific to Pariente and did not reference Mendez or any other employees.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hard Rock Punta Cana is owned and operated known as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketscreener.com\/insider\/ROBERTO-CHAPUR-A0LTML\/\">Palace Resorts<\/a>, which owns hotels across the Caribbean, Europe, and Latin America. That company pays a yearly licensing fee to Hard Rock to use that brand name on the Dominican property.<\/p>\n<h2>What\u2019s Next for Pariente<\/h2>\n<p>As for what becomes of Pariente\u2019s career in the gaming space, anything is possible as the industry has developed a reputation for extending latitude to executives with checkered pasts. Pariente is proof positive of that scenario.<\/p>\n<p>He previously held a high-level role at Wynn Las Vegas during a time in which anti-money laundering rules were violated there. That led to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wynn-lv-strikes-130m-doj-settlement-largest-fine-ever-for-a-us-casino\/\">a $130.13 million forfeiture<\/a> by the venue last year to the federal government &#8212; the biggest penalty ever levied against an individual US casino. Controversy followed Pariente to the Caribbean where he left Baha Mar Casino and Hotel in the Bahamas in February 2018 following investigation pertaining to involvement with Colombian prostitutes.<\/p>\n<p>R.J. Cipriani, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/robinhood702\">also known as Robin Hood 702<\/a>, told <em>Casino.org <\/em>Pariente\u2019s ouster from Hard Rock Punta Cana should serve as a warning to gaming executives engaging in nefarious practices and the companies willing to employ them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cLet this be a warning to other dirty executives and casinos around the globe: Stop hiring these corrupt and dirty execs who get fired for wrongdoings and then end up with a bigger and better job at another top casino,\u201d said Cipriani.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>He also lauded Hard Rock CEO Jim Allen for taking the Pariente situation seriously and moving quickly to investigate the matter. <span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Donald Codey, senior vice president of gaming and casino marketing for Hard Rock, will be handling all of Pariente&#8217;s responsibilities in the interim until a full time replacement can be found, according to a source.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-sacks-pariente-following-dominican-casino-controversies\/\">Hard Rock Sacks Pariente Following Dominican Casino Controversies<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pariente relieved of duties at Hard Rock Punta Cana casino resort following internal probe into allegations of money structuring, unpaid markers Another staffer allegedly acting at Pariente\u2019s behest also fired News emerges after series of Casino.org articles exposing Pariente\u2019s purported misdeeds in Dominican Republic and Las Vegas Hard Rock International has relieved Alex Pariente of his duties as corporate senior [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":811,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808\/revisions\/811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}