The outgoing executive director of the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission has been cleared after an investigation into his travel expenses when he worked as a gambling commissioner in California.

The Fair Political Practices Commission closed the case against Richard Schuetz with no further action after an inquiry found no evidence of any wrongdoing.

The FPPC said: “The payments that were not reported for travel to various conferences either fell into the category of self-funded, not attended or paid for by the State of California.

“There was no evidence that the reported payments violated the rules because in each case there was an applicable exception. Therefore, we are closing the matter.”

The complaint against Mr Schuetz, filed in July 2015 and reported by The Royal Gazette in July 2016, alleged that he may have failed to report some travel payments while a commissioner at the California Gambling Control Commission.

But the FPPC’s enforcement division concluded after a 21-month inquiry that there was no evidence that Mr Schuetz was required to report any payments for travel, other than those already reported on his annual filings.

Mr Schuetz said: “In less than four years as a commissioner in California, I was invited to speak over 50 times around the world and many of these trips I paid for myself.

“I was honoured to be invited and it clearly enhanced the brand of the California Commission to have someone with such proven credentials. One can only speculate why someone would make an effort to take that away from me.”

Alan Dunch, chairman of the BCGC, said that the complaint and later coverage in The Royal Gazette were “unfortunate” because there was “no substance” to the claims.

He added he became aware of the complaint during the interview stage of Mr Schuetz’s application for the post of executive director in 2015.

Mr Dunch said: “He immediately made me aware of them and offered to withdraw his application as a result.

“I, in turn, contacted all of the references I had been provided with, including references at the highest levels of the California government and, based on the representations made to me by the referees, I was entirely satisfied that there was nothing in the allegations and that Mr Schuetz was a man of the highest integrity.

“As a result, I had no diffidence about appointing him as executive director and his appointment was unquestionably the right one and one that was in Bermuda’s best interests.”

Mr Schuetz resigned from the BCGC in July and is now serving his notice period until the end of the year.

He has been criticised by politicians in the House of Assembly, including last week by social development minister Zane DeSilva, and Mr Dunch said that was unwarranted.

Mr Dunch added: “It’s sad that the manner in which Mr Schuetz has been treated by certain politicians of this country has contributed to his unfortunate decision to hand in his notice.

“It will be difficult to find somebody of his stature to replace him.”

Mr Schuetz has had a long career in the casino industry — he has worked as a blackjack and dice dealer up to the president and CEO of casino resorts.

He also lectures across the world on gaming, gaming regulation and casino marketing and will give his annual lecture at the School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on October 4.