Mohegan — Bobby Soper’s resignation Tuesday as president and chief executive officer of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority came amid an ongoing review of financial irregularities at Mohegan Sun Pocono, the casino the authority owns and operates in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

“It did not occur while I was there,” Soper, a Mohegan tribal member, said Wednesday night, referring to the irregularities.

The gaming authority, whose flagship property, Mohegan Sun, Soper headed after seven years at the helm of Mohegan Sun Pocono, issued a news release late Wednesday afternoon in which it announced Soper’s resignation and the appointment of Mitchell Etess as interim CEO.

Soper, who said he was “leaving on good terms,” repeated what he had told The Day on Tuesday night when he said he “was happy to take on a new challenge.” He said confidentiality agreements prevented him from commenting further about a career move.

In a filing late Wednesday afternoon with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the gaming authority reported that a review of “possible operational control deficiencies” at Mohegan Sun Pocono would cause the late filing of its latest quarterly report.

Based on “preliminary findings,” the gaming authority says in the filing that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel “anticipates that Mohegan Sun Pocono will be subject to disciplinary action including a fine and undertakings to remediate the issues identified ...”

The filing was signed by Kevin Brown, the Mohegan tribal chairman, who also chairs the gaming authority Management Board.

“The operational control deficiencies, which we are presently in the process of remediating, relate to, among other things, our system of tracking and reporting the issuance of certain customer incentives such as free slots play,” the filing says.

Soper said the review grew out of an investigation of a scheme in which three people, including a former Mohegan Sun Pocono vice president, were indicted in a money-laundering scheme that involved the theft of more than $400,000 from the casino. All three have pleaded guilty.

“We’ve been very cooperative with the review,” Soper said.

Brown, in Wednesday's news release, praised Soper.

“Having served as General Manager of both our Connecticut and Pennsylvania properties, Bobby actively pursued the growth of the Mohegan gaming enterprise to ensure its viability and survivability in an ever-increasingly competitive industry, and he helped us achieve important gains across the country and around the world,” Brown said. “The Authority is on good footing with its lowest debt-leverage ratio since the recession; combined with the outstanding opportunities presented by a number of management agreements put into place under his stead, MTGA is postured to sustain the tribe for generations to come."

“Mitchell’s experience, and sustained connection over the past year, will allow us to sustain our progress while we commence the search for a new corporate leader,” he said.

Etess, who retired as the gaming authority’s president and CEO in 2015, has since served as senior adviser to the Mohegan Tribe.

Gaming authority officials were unavailable to comment Wednesday night.

According to the SEC filing, the gaming authority board, while conducting its own review of Mohegan Sun Pocono’s operations, last month terminated the Pennsylvania casino’s business relationship with ReferLocal, a Wilkes-Barre marketing and advertising company with which it had done business since 2011. Soper has a 5 percent equity interest in the company, which he previously had not disclosed to the board, the filing says.

“On Feb. 3, 2017, we received a letter from counsel to ReferLocal asserting, among other things, that ReferLocal had suffered damages in connection with the termination of our business relationship and may seek recovery of such damages from us and our former President and Chief Executive Officer,” the filing says.

“The outcome of the foregoing matters is uncertain and we cannot estimate the extent of materiality or the amount or range of reasonably possible loss that may result from them,” it says.

Soper said Wednesday night that his 5 percent share in ReferLocal “became a collateral issue” and that he did not consider it “a material disclosure.”

“I invest in a lot of businesses,” he said. “I did disclose it to my superior at the time to remove any potential conflict for myself.”

He said the supervisor he was referring to was Etess. He also said he was not involved in the gaming authority’s decision to terminate Mohegan Sun Pocono’s relationship with ReferLocal.

Asked why he resigned, Soper said, “To be with any organization in this business for 20 years is a remarkable feat. Now’s the time and the opportunity.”

Gaming authority officials, including Brown and Etess, are traveling to Pennsylvania on Thursday.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com