Mohegan — Mitchell Etess took the better part of a year to “transition” into his September 2015 retirement.

It didn’t last much longer than that.

Etess, 59, a senior adviser to the Mohegan Tribe since stepping down as chief executive officer of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, returned to his former role in an interim capacity last week after Bobby Soper abruptly resigned amid an investigation of financial irregularities at Mohegan Sun Pocono, the authority’s Wilkes-Barre, Pa., casino.

Soper resigned Tuesday. Less than 24 hours later, Etess was huddled with staff at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville. On Thursday, he flew to Pennsylvania, where he, Kevin Brown, chairman of both the Mohegan Tribal Council and the authority’s management board, and Tom Burke, the authority’s chief operating officer, met with employees at the Pocono casino.

“I never anticipated anything like this,” Etess said Friday, stressing the “interim” aspect of his new/old position. “I can’t emphasize enough that I’m not the permanent solution.”

But, given that the authority could find itself in the midst of unprecedented growth via such projects as a South Korea resort that’s under design, the proposed redevelopment of the former Norwich Hospital property in Preston and the pursuit of a Hartford-area casino, he’ll more than do for the time being.

By Friday, he had moved from the office he maintained in the Mohegan Tribal Government & Community Center off Route 32 to his former space at Mohegan Sun.

He expects the search for Soper’s successor to take months.

When Etess went public with his retirement plans in November 2014, he triggered the start of a succession process that resulted in Soper’s appointment as MTGA president the following April. Etess remained as CEO until the end of that September, when Soper took over.

“This is a very different situation,” Etess said. “There’s no succession plan this time.”

That alone would seem to be ample evidence of the unexpected nature of Soper’s resignation. Many believed Soper, 45, a tribal member who began working for the tribe in 1997, would remain with the company for many years to come.

Both Soper and the tribe said last week that he was leaving to pursue other, unspecified opportunities, but, at the same time, the MTGA revealed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board was reviewing “possible operational control deficiencies” at Mohegan Sun Pocono.

Preliminary findings indicate the casino will face disciplinary action, including a fine, according to the filing.

Soper said the review grew out of an investigation of a scheme in which three people, including a former Mohegan Sun Pocono vice president, scammed the casino out of more than $400,000. All three were indicted and pleaded guilty to federal charges.

The indictment alleged that the scheme began in May 2014 and continued to April 2015. Soper headed Mohegan Sun Pocono from its opening in 2005 to 2012, when he returned to Connecticut to succeed Etess as president and CEO of Mohegan Sun. 

“It did not occur while I was there,” Soper told The Day last week, referring to the financial irregularities at Mohegan Sun Pocono.

Neither Etess nor other MTGA officials have commented on the extent to which Soper’s resignation and the investigations into the Pennsylvania casino operations are linked.

“Bobby was very popular here. People are sad he’s leaving,” Etess said. “But this company’s built to last. We’ve combined that built-to-last approach with the Mohegan philosophy to form a unique corporate culture that goes beyond me, beyond Bobby. It’s the only way we’ll continue to be successful.”

Etess acknowledged that he’s got some catching up to do, particularly in regard to the Preston project and the third Connecticut casino the tribe’s pursuing in a joint venture with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe. He plans to provide input, too, on the South Korea project, though he hopes to limit his travel.

“I still know the players,” he said.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com