IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A prominent lottery official who was stripped of power after a subordinate allegedly carried out a yearslong jackpot-rigging scheme received a $284,000 severance payment.
A tax filing obtained by The Associated Press shows the Multi-State Lottery Association made the payment to its longtime executive director Chuck Strutt as part of a “voluntary termination agreement” signed March 31.
Strutt, who’d been with the association since its founding in 1987, says he agreed to step aside to help the organization get past the alleged fraud perpetrated by former employee Eddie Tipton.
He says the severance, which was about one year worth of salary, was part of a standard settlement for a departing executive. Strutt had been on leave since October 2015.
Strutt says he was shocked to learn of Tipton’s alleged fraud.
