Mohegan hires former Caesars exec Haven Pope as Chief Accounting Officer

Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment (MGE) on Tuesday announced the appointment of Haven Pope as Chief Accounting Officer. He will oversee a comprehensive system of financial reporting and analysis for MGE and its subsidiaries globally to promote future growth and development.

"The Chief Accounting Officer is critical to Mohegan's success as a global, tribal entity, and we have the utmost confidence that Haven will exceed expectations in this role," said Ray Pineault, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment. "With his impressive experience and strong background in corporate finance, we are confident his leadership and technical accounting skills will further enable us to strengthen our position as a leading integrated entertainment resort brand."  

In his new role, Pope will report directly to Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Carol Anderson, and will lead the financial reporting, technical accounting, and corporate accounting teams. He will also be instrumental in facilitating a constant flow of communication among the property's finance teams, the audit committee and external auditors. With this change, Peter Roberti will transition to the role of Vice President of Finance and Corporate Treasurer, covering treasury operations, tax support and capital structure activities.

Additionally, Pope will optimize core processes and systems throughout the accounting organization to drive efficiency across the brand and conform with professional accounting standards and best practices within the industry. As Chief Accounting Officer, he will manage and direct all external financial reporting and retain the financial accounting team, developing, motivating, and retaining top talent.

Pope brings more than 20 years of finance and accounting experience with him as he joins MGE's leadership team. Most recently, he served as the Senior Director of Accounting & Internal Controls, for Caesars Entertainment. While at Caesars, he led a team of professionals covering multiple centralized accounting functions across the Caesars Entertainment brand, specializing in technical accounting, accounting policies, internal controls and financial reporting. Additionally, Pope led strategic finance transformation projects and directed accounting compliance for most areas of the entertainment resort brand. "These experiences will undoubtedly serve him well as the newly appointed Chairman of MGE's Accounting Steering Committee and Disclosure Committee," MGE stated in a press release.

Prior to his career at Caesars Entertainment, Pope worked for CarMax, Deloitte & Touche and Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, with significant experience in technical accounting, accounting policies, internal controls, financial reporting, finance transformation and an array of financial auditing and reporting.