Last week, we gave you an account on how the legislators questioned the Arkansas Lottery director and soon to be former chief financial officer. However, space and time constraints kept us from giving you the full story, so we will continue today. For those of you unable to read the previous article, it was all about why the chief financial officer, Philip Miley, failed to tell the lottery director about a tax blunder that led to an $80,000 fine from the IRS. Just as the legislators were questioning Ernie Passailaigue, the state lottery director, Miley walked into the room and gave his own account. State lottery

He said that he was trying to solve the issue with the IRS since April, 2010, and believed the penalty could be avoided because the lottery was “diligently trying to follow the rules.” Miley added that dealing with the IRS is the Chief Financial Officer’s job, not the Lottery Director’s. However, Senator Jonathan DIsmang was far from impressed. Lotteries

“I’m going to argue there was a tremendous breakdown there,” Senator Dismang stated. Mega lottery

However, Philip Miley said he still believes the problem can be solved in the favor of the Arkansas State Lottery.

“I am still convinced that the lottery is not in error,” Philip Miley stated, also saying that it is his honest belief that the data input issue was caused by the IRS. As a conclusion, Senator DIsmang asked Miley about his decision to put forth his resignation letter. “Why are you leaving”, the Senator asked.

“The hostile work environment is really too much for me to handle; $80,000 per year is not worth it,” Philip Miley answered. He added that affairs that should be kept within a private company are being publicly discussed by the government and it’s putting a strain on his family. “It’s hard on me and hard on my family,” he said.

Barry Hyde, the lottery’s internal auditor, said the rupture between Passailaigue and Miley “falls under the general control environment within the office.”

The Lottery Director told the lawmakers that out of the 13 Legislative Audit Committee findings of the prior fiscal year, 12 were cleared. The only remaining problem is creating a decent end of year report which is conformant with the generally accepted accounting practices.

That’s about it on the matter for now. Please join us again very soon if you want to find out more about any particular state lottery or lotteries in general.