Lottery VP on administrative leave
Action follows disclosure of FBI recording episode
Connecticut Lottery Corp. Vice President Chelsea Turner — who disclosed last week she had contacted the FBI some five years ago about her suspicions of wrongdoing on the part of the thenchairman of the lottery’s governing board — has been placed on administrative leave for an undetermined period, lottery corporation President/CEO Greg Smith told employees Monday at a hastily called meeting.
Smith spoke for only a minute or two once he gathered dozens of employees together at the lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill, and he didn’t give any reason for the action. But administrative leaves such as this one are typically imposed when potential unfavorable action or discipline is being considered against an employee.
Monday afternoon’s announcement comes nearly a week after Turner’s explosive testimony at an administrative hearing that around 2014 she contacted a friend of hers in the FBI with suspicions about possible wrongdoing by Frank Farricker, then the CLC’s governing board chairman — and the FBI soon had then-lottery CEO Anne Noble record Farricker secretly in at least one meeting.
A small recording device was concealed inside Noble’s eyeglass case to capture Farricker’s comments, Turner testified under oath at a hearing by the state’s chief human rights referee on a pending complaint by an exlottery official, who claims he was a victim of his bosses’ retaliation.
Tara Chozet, the lottery’s spokesperson, confirmed Monday afternoon Turner had been placed on leave as of the morning. She did not say whether it was a paid leave in which Turner would continue to receive her $190,000-a-year salary while remaining off the job at her boss’ direction.
Smith’s announcement added to the woes of the quasi-public agency that sells $1.2 billion worth of tickets a year to generate $345 million in annual state revenue. The agency is still reeling from several years of troubles and turmoil, including:
• a 2015 scandal over fraud by lottery retailers that put an abrupt end to the popular 5 Card Cash game;
• the departure of Noble as president/CEO the year after that, in a lucrative severance agreement that credited her with four months’ employment that brought her to a 10-year retirement vesting threshold;
• a million-dollar mistake in a Jan. 1, 2018 New Year’s Super Draw drawing;
• and a whistleblower’s complaint in mid-2018 by Alfred DuPuis, the now-retired director of security at the lottery who claims Turner and others targeted him for potential discipline in the Super Draw blunder, which was made by DuPuis’ subordinates. He says the real reason he was charged with “gross neglect” of duty after the 2018 drawing disaster was his past role in bringing the 5 Card Cash problem to light. Turner and he lottery corporation deny that. DuPuis is seeking compensation, and his complaint was the subject of the hearing last Tuesday at which Turner testified about her contact with the FBI concerning Farricker. Farricker had testified earlier that day in support of DuPuis’ claims that Turner wanted him removed as security chief. More hearings are planned in the still-pending case later this year.
Consumer protection to investigate
With all of that as a backdrop, events began tumbling out fast on Monday afternoon.
A few minutes after 3 p.m., Smith received an email from the state Department of Consumer Protection, which regulates lottery games and is responsible for assuring their integrity, that it “will be initiating an investigation into statements that were made at a recent Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities [h]earing” — which was a reference to Turner’s testimony.
In that email, William Ryan, director of the DCP’s gaming division, wrote that Turner’s statements under oath “indicated there may have been a failure, by certain personnel at the Connecticut Lottery Corporation to report incidences or allegations of legal violations in accordance with regulatory requirements … or other licensing requirements.” Turner and others at the lottery corporation hold DCP-issued gaming licenses and need to maintain them in order to serve in their key jobs.
Lottery officials did not say if the DCP’s move had anything to do with Turner’s leave. Ryan also sent an email to Turner informing her of the same thing he told Smith and that an investigator will be contacting her to schedule an interview.
Meanwhile, the FBI has not answered a series of questions from The Courant inquiring about what it was investigating and who else might have been under scrutiny, although it appears nothing came of its inquiry.
Last Thursday, two days after Turner’s testimony, Smith, the lottery’s president/CEO since July 2018, sent an internal email to all lottery employees about Turner’s testimony, saying, “It is important to remind everyone that there is an existing structure and process for reporting concerns about ethical conduct.” He then listed “resources and processes … to address reporting ethical concerns,” including the Office of State Ethics, the CLC’s general counsel, the CLC’s human resources department, and “your supervisor.”
One place Smith didn’t tell employees to report their ethical concerns was the FBI, which is where Turner and Noble went with theirs.
Jon Lender can be reached at jlender@courant.com.