Richard Kivel, chairman of Lotery.com’s board of directors, has handed in his resignation after trying to get the company’s finance under control in vain. In his resignation letter, Kivel listed the reasons for his departure.
Kivel cited the delayed arrival of the funding from Woodford Eurasia and the federal investigation into Lottery.com’s chief compliance officer, Dennis Ruggeri, as reasons for his leave. His time with the company has been fairly short, with him only joining a year ago.
When Lotter.com’s board members started leaving en masse, Kivel tried to remain calm and unite the rest of the team. However, in his letter, the chair admitted that the recent happenings have consistently prevented him from fulfilling his duties.
A Delayed Investment and a Federal Investigation
The aforementioned Woodford Eurasia deal from two months ago was a seemingly great opportunity to bring the company back on track. The company planned to invest about $2.5 million in Lottery.com, providing it with much-needed funding to reinvigorate its business. The lottery company was also to receive an additional $8.5 million loan against monies owed by financial services firm J. Streicher. Lastly, it was to receive an additional investment of up to $50 million at a later date.
According to Kivel, none of this money arrived. He accused Woodford Eurasia of making false promises that ended up damaging Lottery.com’s business.
The other problem that Kivel mentioned is the ongoing investigation of Dennis Ruggeri, Lottery.com’s chief compliance officer. Kivel said that the appointment of Ruggeri made him question Lottery.com’s leadership. He said that the company’s higher-ups have “put the company in serious jeopardy” and have hurt its ability to recover.
He concluded that his efforts to perform as a fiduciary and support the company’s business were “aggressively obstructed” by those aligned with the problematic investment groups.
Things Aren’t Looking Good for Lottery.com
The resignation of Kivel contributes to a future that doesn’t look rosy for Lottery.com. The company saw many of its valuable employees depart and also parted ways with Armanino LLP, its auditing firm.
All this trouble began when federals found cases of incompliance amid Lottery.com’s leadership, which led to the discovery that the company’s cash holdings are $30 million lower than estimated.
Kivel isn’t the first board member to leave while claiming that the company is preventing its board from doing something about the existing problems. The situation even forced the company’s founder, Lawrence Anthony “Tony DiMatteo,“ to jump ship.