Illinois Lottery Has $200 Million In Bookkeeping Errors: State Auditor
From the Chicago Sun-Times
The Illinois Lottery has "material weaknesses" in its internal financial controls — weaknesses that led to $200 million in reporting errors, a new state audit has found.
In a report that already is sparking finger-pointing and drawing the attention of key lawmakers, Illinois Auditor General William Holland concluded that the mistakes had the potential to result in incorrect financial statements being issued both by the lottery and by the state of Illinois itself.
The combination of “errors, inaccuracies and weaknesses (created) a reasonable possibility of a material misstatement of the (lottery's) financial statements will not be prevented,” the audit summary states. And those problems extended not only to personnel and reporting forms but to computer systems that generate reports, Mr. Holland said.
Lottery Director Michael Jones noted that the audit covered the year ended June 30, 2012, during which the lottery separated from the Illinois Department of Revenue. Financial glitches are "not uncommon" during such transitions, and have been remedied, he said.
Mr. Jones also blamed the problem on the lottery's private operator, Northstar Lottery Group LLC, which has been involved in a yearlong dispute with Mr. Jones about its compensation and related matters. “Most of the data” the lottery relied on came from Northstar, he said.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Chicago Sun-Times
The Illinois Lottery has "material weaknesses" in its internal financial controls — weaknesses that led to $200 million in reporting errors, a new state audit has found.
In a report that already is sparking finger-pointing and drawing the attention of key lawmakers, Illinois Auditor General William Holland concluded that the mistakes had the potential to result in incorrect financial statements being issued both by the lottery and by the state of Illinois itself.
The combination of “errors, inaccuracies and weaknesses (created) a reasonable possibility of a material misstatement of the (lottery's) financial statements will not be prevented,” the audit summary states. And those problems extended not only to personnel and reporting forms but to computer systems that generate reports, Mr. Holland said.
Lottery Director Michael Jones noted that the audit covered the year ended June 30, 2012, during which the lottery separated from the Illinois Department of Revenue. Financial glitches are "not uncommon" during such transitions, and have been remedied, he said.
Mr. Jones also blamed the problem on the lottery's private operator, Northstar Lottery Group LLC, which has been involved in a yearlong dispute with Mr. Jones about its compensation and related matters. “Most of the data” the lottery relied on came from Northstar, he said.
Read more in our daily News Update...