Ryan Mindell, the executive director of the Texas Lottery Commission, has resigned effective immediately, a release from the agency said Monday.
“Ryan Mindell notified the Texas Lottery Commission board of his resignation, effective today, April 21,” Robert Rivera, the agency’s chair, said in a statement.
Rivera said Sergio Rey, the agency’s chief financial officer, will be the acting deputy executive director of the Texas Lottery after Mindell’s resignation.
The board said it would consider a selection process for a new executive director at its next meeting, which is set for April 29.
Rivera’s statement did not say why Mindell submitted his resignation.
Mindell took over as executive director after Gary Grief resigned in April 2024. Mindell and Grief were criticized after an increase in third-party lottery ticket couriers and a single group bought every ticket combination possible to win the $95 million jackpot in 2023, The Texas Tribune reported.
His resignation comes a day after the New York Times released a report examining how state officials invited the 2023 rigging. The Times noted in its reporting that Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and the Texas Rangers are investigating, and both the state House and Senate have examined the issue, in addition to the media reports on the matter.
Colossus Bets, a British bookmaker, worked with Lottery.com and two firms to buy every combination of possible numbers for the 2023 jackpot and ensure they would win. They could only do that, though, because lottery officials looked the other way in the case of violations, the Times reported.
The state House budget passed the chamber with zero funding for the lottery commission for the two-year spending cycle that begins in September.
For the lottery agency that brings in $2 billion annually to the state treasury, the House’s budget could mean it would be out of business later this year, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
Most of the funds raised by the lottery go to public schools, but when lawmakers set the budget, funding to the Foundation School Fund was fixed, no matter how well the lottery performs that year, the outlet noted.
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