By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Former Raiders Controller Araxie Grant, a business executive who left the NFL team July 19, sent a statement to LVSportsBiz.com Monday saying, “I have never been involved in any financial impropriety or wrongdoing before or during my 20-month tenure with the Raiders.”
Grant said she resigned July 19 — the same day that former Raiders President Marc Badain stepped down, too.
In addition, former Raiders Chief Financial Officer Ed Villanueva also left during this summer. Brandon Doll, the Raiders’ former vice president of strategy and business development, “left the Raiders for reasons outside of the accounting issues,” the sports business site, Front Office Sports, reported last week.
Grant is the first of the four former Raiders executives to make a public comment in response to national media reports that said last week there were accounting issues at the Raiders that were tied to “financial irregularities” and “money not reported as income.”
LVSportsBiz.com is posting her complete statement in our story:
“I resigned from my position as the Controller with the Las Vegas Raiders organization on July 19, 2021 and am currently exploring new career opportunities.
“I’ve been contacted by several news outlets with questions about why I resigned. As a CPA I have a duty to maintain confidentiality and, for this reason, I am not able to disclose details or answer questions regarding my resignation from the Raiders. I can say that I have never been involved in any financial impropriety or wrongdoing before or during my 20-month tenure with the Raiders. I am someone who lives by high standards of ethics and integrity. As a CPA, I have never, and would never, participate in unethical accounting practices, or compromise my professional responsibilities in any way.
“I am grateful for the chance to have worked with the Raiders and look forward to my next career challenge.”
The Badain announcement last month caught Raiders workers and local Las Vegas leaders by surprise. Badain was the public business face of the Raiders and represented the franchise at many local meetings and luncheons. He guided the Raiders’ move from Oakland to the Las Vegas market and oversaw the construction of the $2 billion stadium project, which opened in late July 2020.
The timing of the departures seemed odd because they came just before the Raiders began hosting fans in the 65,000-seat domed stadium for the first time this summer after no fans were allowed in the building last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Badain was replaced by Dan Ventrelle, the team’s former general counsel.
The Raiders play their first regular season home game with fans inside Allegiant Stadium on Monday Night Football Sept. 13 when they host the Baltimore Ravens. They played a preseason game with fans against the Seattle Seahawks Aug. 14.
As a CPA I have a duty to maintain confidentiality and, for this reason, I am not able to disclose details or answer questions regarding my resignation from the Raiders. I can say that I have never been involved in any financial impropriety or wrongdoing before or during my 20-month tenure with the Raiders. I am someone who lives by high standards of ethics and integrity. As a CPA, I have never, and would never, participate in unethical accounting practices, or compromise my professional responsibilities in any way. — Former Raiders Controller Araxie Grant