Hard Rock International suspends top executive – Business News
Hard Rock International, which simply submitted a joint bid with Mets proprietor Steve Cohen for a license to operate a on line casino subsequent to the workforce’s ballpark, suspended a top executive accused of participating in improper betting practices.
Hard Rock shelved Alex Pariente, its senior vice for resort and on line casino operations, after a whistleblower claimed he engaged in shady money structuring practices with purchasers and allowed credit markers to go unpaid at its on line casino in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
The on line casino giant suspended Pariente with out pay pending an investigation.
Hard Rock executive Alex Pariente. Linkedin
“Hard Rock International is aware of the allegations involving one of our executives and is treating the matter with the utmost seriousness. Honesty and integrity are core values of our organization, and we hold all team members—regardless of their role—to the highest ethical standards,” Hard Rock stated in a assertion.
“Hard Rock does not tolerate any conduct that compromises the trust placed in us by our guests, partners, or team members. The employee in question has been suspended without pay pending an internal investigation into this matter.”
Paliente, a veteran of the gaming industry, had no instant remark to a voice message.
The accusations have been first reported by on line casino.org.
High stakes gambler RJ Cipriani is the whistleblower who notified Hard Rock brass of Paliente’s alleged actions.
Among the misdeeds cited was an occasion by which an worker, at Pariente’s behest, took a $100,000 deposit from a Chinese national. To keep away from anti-money laundering laws, she broke up the sum into 33 separate $3,000 deposits, violating reporting necessities, in response to Cipriani.
“Hard Rock CEO Jim Allen reached out to me directly and is taking the matter very seriously,” Cipriani stated.
The signal of the resort and the on line casino “Hard Rock” in Punta Cana. Shutterstock / gg-foto
He instructed The Post that the IRS legal unit and gaming regulators in Florida, Las Vegas and New York are conscious of the scenario.
Cipriani additionally stated two different Hard Rock workers who work with Paliente have been suspended as properly.
A Hard Rock rep declined to touch upon whether or not others have been suspended.
Hard Rock International is the gaming unit of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which operates 18 casinos within the US, Canada and Punta Cana.
The timing of the scandal was an unwelcome development for the $8 billion Cohen-Hard Metropolitan Park on line casino project, although it’s unclear what influence, if any, it should have on the bid.
The state Gaming Commission, which is able to award up to a few gaming licenses within the New York City area by 12 months’s finish, declined to touch upon the Hard Rock scenario.
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana, Mexico. Photographer: Cristian Costea
“The gaming facility evaluation process includes NYS Police-background investigations of companies, affiliates, and the principals of all the applicants,” a commission spokesman stated.
Hard Rock isn’t the one on line casino bidder compelled to handle scandal.
Nevada gaming regulators in March imposed a $10.5 million nice in opposition to the Resorts World on the Las Vegas Strip over allegations of unlawful playing, many related to a bookmaker with ties to the previous interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani. It was the second highest nice issued by regulators there as half of the settlement by which Resorts World and Genting neither admit nor deny the allegations.
The Vegas on line casino and Resorts World New York are each half of the Genting Group empire — although they’re operated by separate corporations.
Alex Pariente and Robert Earl on the Las Vegas Grand Opening Fashion Show And Celebration at Tryst, Wynn Las Vegas on March 8, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. WireImage
Resorts World, which operates a slots parlor subsequent to the Aqueduct monitor, submitted a bid for a on line casino license to offer stay desk video games as half of a $5.5 billion leisure complicated.
Some of the allegations in opposition to Resorts World centered on Mathew Bowyer, the southern California bookmaker who took hundreds of sports activities bets from Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s ex-interpreter.
Bowyer pleaded guilty to federal expenses of working an unlawful playing business, transactional money laundering and submitting a false tax return. Mizuhara additionally pleaded guilty to tax fraud.
The state Gaming Facility Location Board acquired eight bids final month, together with from Cohen-Hard Rock at Willets Point and Genting-Resorts World at Aqueduct.
Other bids embrace:
The Avenir at eleventh Avenue and forty first Street on Manhattan’s West Side, submitted by World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein with Rush Street and Greenwood gaming operators.
Caesars Palace Times Square at 1515 Broadway, a Caesars partnership with developer SL Green and rap mogul Jay-Z’s Roc Nation.
Freedom Plaza at 686 First Ave. on Manhattan’s East Side submitted by the Soloviev Group and Mohegan Sun.
MGM Empire City at Yonkers Raceway, an present slots parlor, submitted a bid for a full on line casino license.
Bally’s proposed New York Casino at its Ferry Point golf course in The Bronx, a property lease acquired from President Trump’s firm, the Trump Organization.
The Coney alongside the Coney Island boardwalk, submitted by Thor Equities, Chickasaw Nation’s Global Gaming Solutions, Saratoga Casino Holdings, and Legends Hospitality Group.
