A state accountant told the Legislative Audit Committee Wednesday that the Montana Lottery’s faulty bookkeeping, which includes $18.5 million in miscalculated financial records over the last several years, occurred because the agency’s former financial services director, Armond Sergeant, stopped doing his job before his death in March 2025.
“We had a man who was looking at the last months, or years, of his life, and he stopped doing his job,” Chet McLean, a CPA with the governor’s budget office, told the committee. “And that’s essentially what happened. And so an accounting mess ensued.”
RELATED
How the Montana Lottery misreported millions of dollars
The Montana Lottery miscalculated its finances by $18.5 million over the last several years, according to a recent report from the state’s Legislative Audit Division. That doesn’t mean $18.5 million is missing, but that the agency overstated and understated its accounts by that amount, the report found.
Legislative auditors found no evidence of fraud, only accounting errors and failures of internal controls. That means the $18.5 million isn’t missing, but that the agency variously overstated and understated its accounts by that aggregate amount, according to a Legislative Audit Division report released in June.
Philip Charpentier, IT services director for the Montana Lottery, told the audit committee the agency had received “concerns” about Sergeant’s work leading up to his death, which the agency’s leadership and human resources department had been investigating.
“The day he passed was the day he was supposed to be present at the office with leadership to discuss disciplinary action,” Charpentier said.
In a Wednesday interview with Montana Free Press, Charpentier declined to share details about that disciplinary action.
At Wednesday’s meeting, state Sen. Becky Beard, R-Elliston, asked the lottery to provide a chronological list of any concerns raised about Sergeant.
Other committee members, including Sen. Forrest Mandeville, R-Columbus, Committee Vice Chair Sen. Laura Smith, D-Helena, and Rep. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, asked the lottery to report back in the coming months to demonstrate that the agency is improving its financial reporting.
Smith asked current Financial Services Director Jolene Boyd if the agency, which operates under the state Department of Administration and a governor-appointed five-member commission, has developed new guardrails to prevent a similar situation if Boyd were suddenly unable to fulfill her duties.
“At this very second, no,” Boyd responded. “But we are working to get to that point with establishing policies and procedures.”
The lottery also told the committee Wednesday that it is in the process of hiring a new contract compliance monitor to assist with financial reviews.
The Montana Lottery Commission is an executive agency, which means Gov. Greg Gianforte has the authority to appoint or remove its members. Charlie Roth, a spokesperson for Gianforte’s office, told MTFP last week that “the governor’s office is reviewing the [audit] report and supports the department’s corrective actions.”
Roth did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
LATEST STORIES
Libertarian Senate candidate’s ‘pet of society’ remark draws backlash
Libertarian Senate candidate Kyle Austin’s comments at an Oct. 23 forum in Billings have sparked controversy, prompting political attacks and drawing criticism from the forum’s host and tribal community members.
Hospital beds for the nation’s sickest kids are disappearing
The gap in care is acute in rural places. Cutbacks are happening across community hospitals, whether owned by small nonprofits or massive private equity companies. Medical researchers and organizations warn such gaps will widen due to cuts in federal Medicaid spending.
Initiative to curb corporate spending draws pushback from privacy-promoting nonprofit
Organizers of I-194 expected a multimillion-dollar campaign to defeat their proposal, which would block corporations from spending directly in Montana elections. It never arrived. But with Election Day approaching, a nonprofit called People United for Privacy is quietly making a case that the anonymity of political donors should be protected.
