The Director of the California State Lottery Hugo Lopez, who had been in position since 2015, resigned on Friday last week, vacating his position immediately as a result.
Lopez’s resignation comes about as a result of a letter sent to former Governor of California Jerry Brown last year, whereby lottery management were accused of public drunkenness and other unprofessional behaviour during business trips.
As a result of receiving said letter, an audit of the Californian State Lottery was undertaken which uncovered excessive spending by management, on items such as pens shaped like baseball bats and $14,000 on baseball caps. In addition, there have been further accusations of nepotism levelled at the management of the lottery as well as unfair dismissals of staff.
Lopez apparently informed his staff by way of email of his impending departure, whereby he exalted the fact that revenues for the lottery had grown significantly during his tenure.
