Robert Alexander and Kizzang: Gambling, Fraud and the Record
Gambling harm · Investor fraud · SEC and DOJ case record
Robert Alexander raised money for online-gaming company Kizzang and diverted investor funds to personal spending, including casino gambling. The SEC charged him in February 2019; in January 2020, he pleaded guilty to securities fraud and wire fraud. The documented case is serious enough without repeating embellished claims from the old version of this page.
What the official record establishes
The SEC said Alexander and Kizzang raised about $9 million from more than 50 investors and that at least $1.3 million was taken for personal expenses, including more than $450,000 spent on gambling trips. The Justice Department later announced his guilty plea to securities and wire fraud.
The Kizzang investment case
Kizzang LLC was presented as an online gaming and sweepstakes business. According to the SEC’s February 7, 2019 Litigation Release No. 24392, Robert Alexander and Kizzang LLC, Alexander sold investments using representations about expected returns, his own investment, charitable giving, company prospects, and his professional background. SEC.gov blocks this site’s automated link checker, so the precise release name and number are provided for direct lookup.
The SEC alleged that those representations were false and that investor money was used for Alexander’s living costs and personal expenses rather than the stated business purposes. The cited spending included credit-card bills, shopping, entertainment, education and vehicle expenses for a family member, and gambling trips.
| SEC charge announced | February 7, 2019 |
|---|---|
| Amount raised | Approximately $9 million from more than 50 investors, according to the SEC |
| Personal diversion alleged | At least $1.3 million, according to the SEC |
| Gambling spending alleged | More than $450,000, according to the SEC |
| Guilty plea | January 8, 2020, to securities fraud and wire fraud |
A concise chronology
- 2013–2017: the Justice Department said the fraudulent investment scheme operated during at least this period.
- Summer 2017: the federal complaint said Kizzang had ceased operations by this point.
- February 7, 2019: the SEC announced its civil fraud case, while federal prosecutors announced parallel criminal charges.
- January 8, 2020: the Justice Department announced Alexander’s guilty plea to securities and wire fraud.
- August 2026 review: CrapsPit found the charging and plea releases but did not locate an official sentencing announcement to support adding a sentence outcome.
The old Grand Theft Auto claim needed correction
The previous CrapsPit article described Alexander as a key creator of Grand Theft Auto and the head of Take-Two Interactive. That should not have been presented as established fact. The federal charging record instead described claims about his role in a prominent video game as part of the alleged misrepresentations about his background. This revision does not repeat the promotional biography as fact.
From civil allegations to a guilty plea
On January 8, 2020, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced that Alexander pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud. The office said he admitted participating in a scheme involving false representations to investors and using company funds for personal expenses, including casino excursions.
CrapsPit did not locate a later official sentencing release during this review, so this page does not guess at the sentence or rely on unsourced summaries. The guilty plea—not merely an allegation—is the appropriate endpoint supported by the sources cited here.
Allegation, charge, and plea are not interchangeable
The SEC litigation release summarizes civil allegations made when the complaint was filed. The Justice Department’s 2020 announcement reports a later guilty plea in the criminal case. Good reporting keeps those stages distinct: the amounts in the SEC section remain attributed to the SEC, while the admitted fraud is described through the plea announcement.
This distinction is especially important when an old article uses phrases such as “authorities allege” in one paragraph and states a disputed biography as fact in the next. Readers should be able to tell what came from a complaint, what was admitted, and what the publisher inferred.
What this case says about gambling harm
The legal wrongdoing was investor fraud and misuse of funds. Gambling was one destination for some of the diverted money; it is not an excuse and it is not necessary to diagnose Alexander from a distance. The responsible lesson is about boundaries and escalation:
- Business, investor, household, and borrowed funds are not a gambling bankroll.
- Large wins during one period do not make continued gambling self-financing.
- Access to wealth or high-limit rooms does not protect a person from harmful loss of control.
- Hiding or misdescribing the source and use of money is an emergency warning sign.
- Stopping and seeking independent financial, legal, and clinical help is more important than trying to win money back.
Controls that businesses and families should not ignore
- Separate company, client, investor, and household funds from personal discretionary money.
- Require independent approval and records for transfers to personal accounts.
- Investigate unexplained cash withdrawals, casino transactions, borrowing, or missing statements.
- Do not rely on a future win, sale, or investment round to repair current losses.
- Seek legal and accounting help when funds belonging to others may have been misused.
These controls are not a diagnosis or a complete fraud-prevention system. They are practical barriers against secrecy and access—two conditions that can allow financial harm to escalate.
Why source discipline matters
Sensational gambling stories are easy to exaggerate. This one previously mixed official allegations with unsupported biography and assumptions about craps. A useful archive separates what the SEC alleged, what Alexander later admitted in court, and what the available sources do not establish.
If gambling is affecting money that belongs to other people, essential bills, borrowing, work, or honesty, stop gambling and use the support options in CrapsPit’s responsible gambling guide.
