Lawsuit accuses Resorts World Las Vegas of allowing illegal gamblers at casino, seeks damages

A federal lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court in Nevada, alleging that the former top executive of Resorts World Las Vegas turned a blind eye to information regarding felons engaging in illegal gambling at the casino.

In a lawsuit filed on Monday by California attorney Marshall Cole, Robert "RJ" Cipriani seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. The six-count lawsuit levels accusations of negligence, civil conspiracy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Resorts World Las Vegas and its former President and Chief Operating Officer, Scott Sibella. Cipriani claims to have gambled at the 3,500-room Strip resort since its opening in June 2021.

Notably, Sibella left the company in mid-September, and representatives from Resorts World stated that he was terminated for violating company policy and the terms of his employment agreement. On September 15, Malaysia-based Genting Berhad, the parent company of Resorts World, announced the appointment of Peter LaVoie as the new CEO.

Scott Sibella

“While we are still reviewing Mr. Cipriani’s complaint, it appears to be the latest rehashing of allegations against Resorts World and Mr. Sibella that have been thoroughly investigated and determined to be baseless by Nevada gaming authorities and others. Now that Mr. Cipriani has chosen to pursue these matters in federal court, we look forward to establishing their lack of merit in that forum as well,” Sibella's attorney, Las Vegas lawyer J. Colby Williams, said in a statement to Review-Journal.

It is worth mentioning that Cipriani has been involved in alleged disputes at Resorts World in the past, as outlined in his lawsuit. In May, Clark County prosecutors dismissed robbery and larceny charges against Cipriani in two separate incidents that occurred at Resorts World in November of the previous year, the report said.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board had initiated an investigation into allegations against Sibella but, in February, concluded that the claims were unfounded. The investigation stemmed from information received in April 2022, based on allegations made by high-roller Brandon Sattler in a sworn deposition during a fraud litigation lawsuit.

In his fraud litigation testimony, Sattler connected Sibella to convicted bookmaker David Stroj, who violated terms of a three-year supervised release after he was sentenced in a 2018 federal case. If the allegations were proven to be true, Sibella and Resorts World could have faced disciplinary action for their association with a convicted illegal gambler.

Despite the Gaming Control Board's investigation finding no wrongdoing on Sibella's part, Cipriani continued to assert his allegations in the lawsuit. The lawsuit includes text-message exchanges with Resorts World employees and a written appeal to Genting's top executive, K.T. Lim, urging action against Sibella for allowing illegal players to wager.

“Sibella is personally familiar with Mr. Cipriani. Mr. Cipriani has notified Sibella on multiple occasions of the continued presence of gamblers with criminal records, pending criminal charges, or who are otherwise the focus of law enforcement investigation at RWLV’s tables,” the lawsuit says, as per Review-Journal.

“No action was ever taken on such information. Instead, RWLV shifted its focus to silence Mr. Cipriani — whom RWLV and Sibella deem a vocal patron revealing and publicizing RWLV’s inconvenient truths.”

The lawsuit alleges that Sibella took steps to silence Cipriani, who uses the social media alias "Robin Hood 702," to post accusations against the company.

“Sibella and RWLV’s motivation behind relentlessly pursuing criminal charges against Mr. Cipriani is clear,” the lawsuit says. “Nothing was more important to Sibella and RWLV than stifling Mr. Cipriani’s ability to speak on the improprieties and criminal activity permeating RWLV’s premises. These are the same improprieties that are now front and center in the news and on information and belief are the exact reasons why Sibella was terminated from his position.”