Ontario lottery players launch $1.1 billion lawsuit

Mar 28, 2007, 11:56 pm (6 comments)

Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation

Lawyers for a Toronto man launched a $1.1 billion class-action lawsuit against Ontario's troubled lottery corporation Wednesday, as the fallout from an investigation into widespread corruption widened.

The suit, filed on behalf of all those who purchased lottery tickets since 1975, proposes a free lottery as a settlement solution.

"The government is responsible for ensuring that [its lottery] is fair, honest and equitable and it would appear that their systems that they have in place haven't achieved that," lawyer Bryan McPhadden said in a telephone interview.

McPhadden said the suit's plaintiff, Boleslaw Karchut, was "miffed" with allegations of corruption and fraud contained in Monday's ombudsman's report.

The report relayed accounts of retailers who fraudulently claimed winning tickets that were not theirs and the "mind-boggling" complicity of the corporation, which made payouts in suspicious circumstances.

Andre Marin concluded that about $15-million was paid to "internal fraudsters," including ticket retailers and their families.

Karchut had on two occasions believed he held winning tickets only to be told he hadn't, his lawyer said. Those situations are now shrouded in doubt following the report.

But shoddy record keeping at the corporation (a fact noted in Monday's report), and the sheer volume of lotteries over the past 32 years will make it difficult to discover specific examples of fraud, McPhadden says.

The suit proposes instead a free lottery worth as much as $1.1-billion, with the money donated by the mammoth government-owned corporation. Free tickets would be issued for every lottery ticket purchased over a six-month period. Rewarding customers for past play would be too difficult, says McPhadden.

"I have bought lottery tickets in the past. Could I tell you which ones, or when, or could I tell you which ones I thought I missed my prize money? We simply cannot do that."

McPhadden has not had any interaction with OLG officials regarding the suit.

"That's just our proposed solution," he said. "We have no idea if the Ontario lottery corporation will go along with it."

Ontario lottery consumers interested in joining the class-action suit can find out how at the website for the law office of McPhadden Samac Merner Barry, www.msmb.ca.

David Caplan, the embattled Liberal minister responsible for the OLG, declined to comment on the free lottery proposal.

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RJOh's avatarRJOh

"I have bought lottery tickets in the past. Could I tell you which ones, or when, or could I tell you which ones I thought I missed my prize money? We simply cannot do that."

"I can't even remember whether I actually bought any tickets but I propose if you will give me and a few other citizens who actual remembered buying some lottery tickets $1.1-billions freely with no need to buy any more lottery tickets, this can all go away."   This guy is looking out for the little guy.

savagegoose's avatarsavagegoose

lotto really has th change from a bearer ticket, to a named ticket, man tax is always tied to lotto,  so registering a lotto purchase to a tax id number should be a POP,  depends if peopple are more interested in their privacy , or keeping their wins.

 

here  in oz, the thicket is scanned and a reciept printed saying " no winning ticket "
 

the ticket number is on the tixket and the reciept. the SOP is for retailer to hand over the scanned ticket and receipt, a buyer can check for discrepencies!

 I wont even go into tne routine of a registered player , and name and address details being stored at the lotto hq on a db.

spy153's avatarspy153

Quote: Originally posted by savagegoose on Mar 29, 2007

lotto really has th change from a bearer ticket, to a named ticket, man tax is always tied to lotto,  so registering a lotto purchase to a tax id number should be a POP,  depends if peopple are more interested in their privacy , or keeping their wins.

 

here  in oz, the thicket is scanned and a reciept printed saying " no winning ticket "
 

the ticket number is on the tixket and the reciept. the SOP is for retailer to hand over the scanned ticket and receipt, a buyer can check for discrepencies!

 I wont even go into tne routine of a registered player , and name and address details being stored at the lotto hq on a db.

I wish they would give you a reciept here. I do not trust the clerks. I have caught them cheating me out of money three times already. They lie about your winning tickets.

Guru101's avatarGuru101

Quote: Originally posted by spy153 on Mar 29, 2007

I wish they would give you a reciept here. I do not trust the clerks. I have caught them cheating me out of money three times already. They lie about your winning tickets.

You need to keep in mind that the clerk isn't a lottery employee. They are working for the store that sells lottery tickets. So technically this guys beef shouldn't even be with the lottery. It should be with the company/store that sold him the tickets.

pumpi76

Serve them right...Unfortunatelly, he will not win that bet...The lottery government is too powerful...

Wish someone would do the exact thing to Texa's State Lottery, specifically their scratch-off section...

I wrote them an email letting them know what a great job they are doing...

 

 

"Keno is "el diablo cazador de hombres".........                 "You can't see it....."                      "And it skins them....."                    from movie Predator1"

JADELottery's avatarJADELottery

Self check scanners are the best way to help prevent some of the crooked clerks ripping people off. Wisconsin has self check scanners where ever online tickets are sold. It's nice, I use them as a means of double checking myself for winning tickets. So far, they have been 100% accurate. When I go to cash them in, I know what my winnings are, right there and then. The clerk can also see me checking them, so they know I know what is a win or not.... no hiding win values. Also, sometimes I catch myself mistakenly thinking I have a non-winning ticket, when I actually do have a winner. With many tickets bought, there's alot to go through.... sometimes, even I could miss one. Wisconsin did a good thing when they implemented the self check scanners.

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