A state accountant told the Legislative Audit Committee Wednesday that the Montana Lottery's $18.5 million in miscalculated financial records came down to a single cause: the agency's former financial services director, Armond Sergeant, stopped performing his duties in the months before his death in March 2025.
The accounting errors, which accumulated over several years, went undetected long enough to produce one of the more significant financial record failures in recent state agency history. The state accountant testified that Sergeant had effectively disengaged from his responsibilities during what appears to have been the final stretch of his life, leaving reconciliations undone and errors uncorrected in the Lottery's books.
The Lottery is one of Montana's more closely watched state enterprises because its proceeds flow to specific public beneficiaries, making accurate bookkeeping a matter of direct public interest. An $18.5 million discrepancy in financial records — even one that does not necessarily represent missing money — raises questions about oversight and whether supervisors or auditors had any mechanism to catch the deterioration before it compounded.
The Legislative Audit Committee heard the testimony as part of its review of the findings. What happens next — whether the committee recommends corrective action, additional oversight requirements, or refers any matters for further review — will depend on how the full audit report is received when it comes before the legislature.