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Nightlife · Today in Vegas · November 4, 2026

Hakkasan's Chief Executive Said in 2016 He Had No Intent of Leaving. He Was Gone Within a Year, and the Former Chairman Got 15 Years.

By Pace Lattin · November 4, 2026

The short versionKhadem al-Qubaisi, the former Hakkasan Group chairman named in the Justice Department's 2016 1MDB forfeiture suits, was sentenced to 15 years in Abu Dhabi in 2019, and in May 2020 his trust gave up a New York penthouse and Beverly Hills sale proceeds worth more than $49 million to the United States. Prosecutors did not allege wrongdoing by Hakkasan itself, but chief executive Neil Moffitt sold his stake and left in April 2017, and Tao Group Hospitality bought the company in April 2021.
Neon sign of a tipping cocktail glass spilling coins into a shredder

Pace Vegas reported in April 2016 that Khadem al-Qubaisi had resigned as chairman of Hakkasan Group and was no longer involved in running it. In that interview, chief executive Neil Moffitt said, "I have no intent of leaving Hakkasan Group." The Real Deal reported that August that al-Qubaisi left the board on May 9, 2016, that the U.S. inquiry focused on his role in arranging Hakkasan's financing around 2012, and that prosecutors had not alleged wrongdoing by the company or its employees. Hakkasan said its capital came from "a legitimate fund in the Middle East" with no connection to 1MDB.

Pace Vegas reported in July 2016 that a Justice Department civil forfeiture complaint listed Moffitt as manager of the company that bought a Walker Tower penthouse in Chelsea for $50,912,500 in January 2014. The complaint alleged al-Qubaisi paid for it with money diverted from 1MDB or from Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co., which he ran, according to The Real Deal. Moffitt had cut the asking price to $55 million. The complaint made no allegation that Moffitt took part in laundering money, as Pace Vegas noted at the time.

In August 2016 Abu Dhabi authorities arrested al-Qubaisi, according to The Real Deal, citing The Wall Street Journal. He had not been charged then, and U.S. prosecutors alleged he received about $470 million in money taken from 1MDB. Pace Vegas wrote that month that Hakkasan could be shut down or forced to sell within six months.

That did not happen on that schedule. Moffitt stepped down as chief executive in April 2017 and sold his interests to the company's existing shareholder ahead of a planned merger with SBE Entertainment, according to Las Vegas Weekly. Nick McCabe, the president and chief operating officer, took over. Pace Vegas reported in October 2017 that the merger had failed and that Hakkasan had closed its Michelin-starred London restaurant HKK. Pace Vegas found no public reporting on Moffitt's current work.

In June 2019 an Abu Dhabi court sentenced al-Qubaisi to 15 years in prison and Mohammed Badawy al Husseiny, a U.S. citizen who ran a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi fund, to 10 years for financial crimes, Bloomberg reported, citing The Wall Street Journal. Free Malaysia Today, citing the same report, said al-Qubaisi was convicted of unlawfully taking 149 million euros and that sources told the Journal the case was not related to 1MDB. The Sun Daily reported that the two men were ordered to pay $336 million.

On May 6, 2020, the Justice Department announced a settlement with the Atlantic Property Trust, whose trustee is al-Qubaisi's wife, to give up assets worth more than $49 million, including the proceeds of Beverly Hills real estate and a New York penthouse that the department said were bought with money traceable to 1MDB. The department noted that its forfeiture complaints are allegations until a court rules for the government, and said total U.S. recoveries tied to 1MDB had reached nearly $1.1 billion. The Walker Tower unit once owned by al-Qubaisi sold at a 64 percent discount, The Real Deal reported in September 2020.

The movie money ran on a parallel track. Red Granite Pictures, which made The Wolf of Wall Street, agreed in 2018 to pay $60 million to the U.S. government, and in September 2020 producer Riza Aziz, stepson of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, gave up claims to more than $60 million in assets in a settlement that court papers say is not an admission of wrongdoing, according to The Real Deal. In February 2023 the International Petroleum Investment Co. and its unit Aabar Investments agreed to pay Malaysia $1.8 billion to settle their 1MDB dispute, Dawn reported.

On April 28, 2021, Tao Group Hospitality, then controlled by Madison Square Garden Entertainment, bought Hakkasan Group from Hakkasan USA by issuing equity in a subsidiary, according to the companies' announcement on Business Wire. The combined company ran 61 venues in 22 markets, with Hakkasan's executives handling daily operations under Tao co-chief executives Noah Tepperberg and Jason Strauss, the Las Vegas Sun reported. In April 2023 Madison Square Garden Entertainment sold a 66.9 percent stake in Tao to Mohari Hospitality in a deal that valued Tao at $550 million, Fox5 reported.

Both of the clubs Pace Vegas watched in 2016 are still open. Hakkasan Nightclub at MGM Grand now books hip-hop and R&B four nights a week, with Tyga, BigXThaPlug and Fabolous on its spring 2026 calendar, according to Las Vegas Weekly. Caesars Entertainment announced in February 2026 that Tao, now part of Mohari Hospitality, would open the 46,000-square-foot Omnia Dayclub and Skybar at Caesars Palace, connected by bridge to Omnia Nightclub for 121,000 square feet combined.

Kaos did not last. Red Rock Resorts closed the Palms dayclub and nightclub, effective immediately, on November 5, 2019, seven months after its April opening, News 3 Las Vegas reported, and the company posted a $26.8 million third-quarter net loss tied partly to ending artist and employment agreements. Pace Vegas reported that week on claims of payoffs in talent booking, which no court has ruled on in any record Pace Vegas found. A federal judge in Nevada later ordered Kaos's owners to pay Kaskade nearly $8 million over his canceled residency, Fox5 reported in March 2022. Red Rock agreed in May 2021 to sell the Palms to the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians for $650 million, and Lorenzo Fertitta told the Las Vegas Sun the company chose to "fail fast and move on" from Kaos.

At the top of the scheme, Malaysia's High Court convicted Najib on December 26, 2025, on four abuse-of-power counts and 21 money-laundering counts and sentenced him to 15 years, with fines of 11.4 billion ringgit, about $2.8 billion, plus 2.08 billion ringgit in assets to be recovered, PBS NewsHour reported. His lawyer said he would appeal. Financier Jho Low, whom the Justice Department has named as a central figure, remains at large, and in July 2025 Malaysia's home minister said the government had no verifiable evidence that he was in China, according to Malay Mail.

Pace's takeIn August 2016 I wrote that Hakkasan might be shut down or sold within six months, and I was wrong on the clock and right on the direction: the chief executive was out within a year and Tao owned the place within five. The chairman got 15 years, the penthouse sold at a 64 percent discount, and the club itself now books Tyga on a Saturday night. Las Vegas does not close a room because its paperwork became famous, it changes the name on the operating agreement and keeps the bottle service running. Disclosure: Pace holds stakes in several Las Vegas-based nightclub companies.

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