The California State Controller says lottery officials owe the state tens of thousands of dollars. Seems lottery workers used state funds for an employee party. From Sacramento, Marianne Russ reports.
Back in November, the Lottery held a bash that featured games, a full-course dinner with dessert, silver-plated photo frames for employees and a disc jockey. More than 300 people attended.
State Controller John Chiang has now audited the event. He says public money that funded the more than $40,000 affair should be paid back. In a statement, he said it was "an inappropriate use of public funds and the State's strained coffers should be reimbursed as quickly as possible."
Chiang's audit also found the lottery had wrongly combined public funds and charitable contributions. Lottery Director Joan Borucki has asked the Attorney General's office to issue a formal opinion on whether the expenditures were legal or not. She has said the State Lottery Commission will soon consider regulations to define proper employee recognition events.
