{"id":872,"date":"2025-06-25T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T09:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/?p=872"},"modified":"2025-09-22T12:10:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:10:27","slug":"hard-rock-exec-alex-pariente-let-markers-go-unpaid-took-bookies-action-say-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/25\/hard-rock-exec-alex-pariente-let-markers-go-unpaid-took-bookies-action-say-sources\/","title":{"rendered":"Hard Rock Exec Alex Pariente Let Markers Go Unpaid, Took Bookies\u2019 Action, Say Sources"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Sources accuse Alex Pariente of allowing bookies to bet at Hard Rock Punta Cana, other casinos<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Asian whistleblower says the executive condoned structuring of money transfers, which is a violation of Dominican regulations<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Pariente is also accused of illegally holding the passports of patrons until they paid credit markers while allowing other markers to go unpaid<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>In a career spanning more than two decades in the casino gaming industry, Alex Pariente developed a reputation for being able to bring high-level players to his employers\u2019 properties. Controversy often followed.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_355870\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-355870\" data-style=\"width: 430px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><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>Hard Rock International executive Alex Pariente. Sources accuse him of allowing bookies to bet at Hard Rock Punta Cana and letting credit markers go unpaid at the casino. (Image: X)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>An Asian whistleblower speaking on the condition of anonymity to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"><em>Casino.org<\/em><\/a> said that on Monday, internal auditors from Hard Rock International &#8212; the tribal gaming giant that\u2019s Pariente\u2019s current employer &#8212; arrived at the Hard Rock Hotel &amp; Casino Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, noting the possible purpose of their trip could be to examine potential accounting irregularities and anti-money laundering violations caused by the executive\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Auditors typically visit gaming venues once every four to six months, and staffers at the property are apprised of those trips in advance. The source told<em> Casino.org<\/em> that the examination taking place at Punta Cana is a surprise and employees didn\u2019t receive a heads-up. A request for comment to Tracey White, Hard Rock&#8217;s vice president of casino finance, wasn\u2019t returned.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a recorded conversation with an employee of the gaming venue provided to <em>Casino.org<\/em> by the whistleblower, the staffer noted that in 2023, a Chinese gambler came to the resort with $100K in cash wanting to deposit that money to play on credit in the casino. 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<p>In the recording, the employee details\u00a0 &#8212; a process that was allegedly performed with Pariente\u2019s consent &#8212; that Hard Rock Punta Cana would allegedly skirt currency reporting protocols by using multiple transactions in small denominations to deposit the Chinese player\u2019s funds. That\u2019s known as money structuring and it\u2019s prohibited under Dominican law.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p>In professional money structuring practices, meticulous planning and execution are crucial to avoid detection or suspicions of illegal activities,\u201d according to the whistleblower. \u201cDividing a large sum into multiple transactions, such as in the case of sending $100K to banks, is a common method to prevent any red flags from being raised. By executing these transactions carefully, Hard Rock can ensure that the legitimacy of the funds remains intact, thereby avoiding any potential repercussions for the source of the money.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Additionally, the patron arrived in the Caribbean from the US &#8212; his country of residence &#8212; and was known to have both American and Chinese passports, but the casino didn\u2019t demand to see the US document, allowing him to deposit funds with his Chinese passport.<\/p>\n<h2>Problems at Punta Cana<\/h2>\n<p>The whistleblower detailed other examples of Pariente wielding influence at the Dominican gaming venue, including an accusation that the executive would knowingly allow high rollers with reputations for not paying their markers to wager at the property. That includes a trio of Brazilian \u201cwhales\u201d &#8212; two of whom didn&#8217;t repay anything on markers totaling more than $1.9 million, and another who repaid roughly half of the $1.35 million in credit extended to him by the Punta Cana casino.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_355874\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-355874\" data-style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-355874 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Punta Cana\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1499\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/HRPC.jpg\"><figcaption>Hard Rock Hotel &amp; Casino Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. (Image: Instagram)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The source cited another example in which a Turkish customer was extended $1.7 million with Pariente\u2019s knowledge, but that marker was never repaid though paperwork filed at the resort suggests otherwise.<\/p>\n<p>That behavior wasn\u2019t consistent because the source also mentioned an example of when a group of international gamblers came to Hard Rock Punta Cana and at the behest of Pariente, staff seized their passports, keeping the documents in the casino cage until <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-strip-casinos-allege-man-stole-625k-through-markers\/\">credit lines<\/a> were repaid. Under Dominican law, seizure of foreign nationals\u2019 passports for that reason is illegal.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p>This practice isn\u2019t in line with Hard Rock\u2019s ethical and legal standards. Intentionally withholding passports to demand payment isn\u2019t acceptable for any casino organization,\u201d adds the whistleblower.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Another source also recounted examples of Pariente exerting influence over high-dollar baccarat and blackjack tournaments at Punta Cana, leveraging his role to get preferred players to the semi-finals and finals without playing the earlier rounds in anticipation of reaping behind-the-scenes financial rewards from those bettors.<\/p>\n<h2>Pariente\u2019s Alleged Controversies Span Beyond DR<\/h2>\n<p>Pariente\u2019s dalliances with the regulatory edge &#8212; and perhaps going beyond &#8212; predate his current role at Hard Rock. He held a high-level marketing role at Wynn Las Vegas and, during his stint at the Strip casino hotel, anti-money laundering rules were violated. That resulted in the Department of Justice (DOJ) last year <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wynn-lv-strikes-130m-doj-settlement-largest-fine-ever-for-a-us-casino\/\">levying a $130.13 million fine<\/a> against the venue &#8212; the largest ever penalty applied to an individual casino.<\/p>\n<p>R.J. Cipriani, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/robinhood702\">also known as Robin Hood 702<\/a>, told <em>Casino.org<\/em> that during Pariente\u2019s time at the Dominican casino, the executive knowingly allowed black-market bookmakers, including Matt Bowyer, to wager at the property. Bowyer is the accused bookmaker who is linked with former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mlb-commissioner-rob-manfred-sports-betting-forced-baseball\/\">MLB<\/a> translator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/dodgers-fire-shohei-ohtanis-interpreter-as-gambling-story-becomes-lost-in-translation\/\">Ippei Mizuhara<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p>I knew about seven years ago when I first set foot into Hard Rock Punta Cana that it was a haven for illegal activity and nefarious players,\u201d said Cipriani. \u201cI personally witnessed people gambling there that I knew were criminals or illegal bookies, and some of those same people are currently in federal prison or awaiting federal sentencing. The ringleader, the guy in charge of all this, was a bigger criminal than any of those people and his name is Alex Pariante.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In Cipriani\u2019s opinion, Pariente\u2019s situation is akin to that of former gaming executive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/former-las-vegas-casino-prez-sibella-sentenced-for-money-laundering\/\">Scott Sibella<\/a>: white-collar management being complicit in misdeeds and getting no more than slaps on the wrist and moving on to other lucrative jobs while others pay steeper prices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s about time that crooked executives are prosecuted to the full extent of the law and if found guilty, \u00a0put in jail for all this illegal activity,\u201d said Cipriani. \u201cIf bookies are looking at jail time, why in God\u2019s name aren\u2019t the dirty executives that took their action and knew they were bookies?\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_355876\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-355876\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-355876 size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Baha Mar\" width=\"858\" height=\"483\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/baha-858x483-1.jpg\"><figcaption>The Baha Mar Casino in the Bahamas. Pariente previously worked at the property. (Image; YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The assertion isn\u2019t off base. Following his time at Wynn, Pariente was named executive vice president for international marketing at the Baha Mar Casino and Hotel in the Bahamas in September 2014. In February 2018, two higher-ups at the venue, one of which was Pariente, were fired following an internal investigation revealing improprieties involving two Colombian prostitutes.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>A source with knowledge of the matter told <em>Casino.org<\/em> that Pariente\u2019s purported penchant for financial chicanery continued at Baha Mar where he also allegedly knowingly allowed illegal bookmakers and other members of the underworld to gamble. The whistleblower told <em>Casino.org<\/em> that soon after Pariente joined Hard Rock Punta Cana, he hired several underlings from Baha Mar who were familiar with his modus operandi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>They include Kim Mackey who now serves as director of credit and collections at the Dominican casino. Employment <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/kim-mackey-3aaa3a142\/\">data indicate<\/a> she worked at Baha Mar from April 2017 to November 2020 &#8212; a time that included part of Pariente\u2019s tenure at the casino resort.<\/p>\n<h2>Pariente May Have Violated Nevada Gaming Laws<\/h2>\n<p>In his current role as corporate senior vice president of casino and hotel operations at Hard Rock, Pariente is based in Florida, and while his title implies he\u2019s tasked with delivering VIPs to the operator\u2019s dozen US casinos, Cipriani and the whistleblower said the executive\u2019s focus is Punta Cana where he rules with an iron fist.<\/p>\n<p>Even with frequent travel between Florida and Punta Cana, Cipriani said that Pariente brought controversial players from his much-ballyhooed Rolodex to Las Vegas despite the possibility that he\u2019s not licensed to do so.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>Cipriani mentions an example in which Pariente allegedly brought high-end bettors for whom he had comp authority to the Mirage in 2023 for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. If Pariente doesn\u2019t hold a Nevada gaming license, the proper way of handling that situation would have been to steer those gamblers to a Hard Rock colleague with comp authority, but Cipriani says that\u2019s not what happened.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>Casino.org<\/em> filed an information request with the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) to verify Pariente\u2019s status in the state, but they didn&#8217;t reply prior to publication of this article.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe amazing part of the F1 story is that Bowyer was supposed to be there with family and friends, but his home was raided by the feds a month prior while Pariente hob-knobbed throughout Vegas when it should have been him that was under federal investigation,\u201d adds Cipriani.<\/p>\n<p>In December 2021, Hard Rock paid <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-paying-1-08-billion-for-mirage-gaming-rights\/\">$1.075 billion<\/a> for the operating rights to the Mirage on the Las Vegas Strip. The venue is currently closed and is scheduled to reopen in early 2027 bearing the Hard Rock name and styled in the form of the operator\u2019s iconic guitar.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/hard-rock-exec-pariente-let-markers-go-unpaid-took-bookies-action-say-sources\/\">Hard Rock Exec Alex Pariente Let Markers Go Unpaid, Took Bookies&#8217; Action, Say Sources<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sources accuse Alex Pariente of allowing bookies to bet at Hard Rock Punta Cana, other casinos Asian whistleblower says the executive condoned structuring of money transfers, which is a violation of Dominican regulations Pariente is also accused of illegally holding the passports of patrons until they paid credit markers while allowing other markers to go unpaid In a career spanning [&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\/872"}],"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=872"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":876,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872\/revisions\/876"}],"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=872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}