Iowa Lottery security chief to grill NY lawyer over Hot Lotto ticket

Jan 17, 2012, 1:37 pm (36 comments)

Hot Lotto

Includes audio report

Meetings to take 'several days'

The Iowa Lottery's security chief says it will likely take "several...days" of face-to-face meetings with a New York attorney and others to get all the questions answered about a winning "Hot Lotto" ticket.

The ticket was sent via FedEx to a Des Moines law firm and turned in at Iowa Lottery headquarters just hours before the deadline.

Steve Bogle, the vice president of security at the Iowa Lottery, says he needs to determine the chain of possession of that ticket.

"Start from where it came in here at the lottery headquarters and follow that ticket all the way back to the purchaser at the Quik Trip that day," Bogle says.

"I suspect that may take more than a couple of hours to corroborate that information."

A New York attorney signed his name on the back of the ticket and indicated the winnings are to be deposited in a trust. The attorney had indicated he'd fly into Des Moines this week, but lottery officials say attorney Crawford Shaw's travel schedule would have allowed him to spend just one or two hours in Des Moines.

"Just meeting with Mr. Shaw is not going to be enough for me to give a recommendation...to pay this ticket," Bogle says.

According to the lottery's security chief, there's been "no credible allegation" that the ticket belonged to someone else, but Bogle says he needs to determine if the ticket at any time was in the possession of an "unauthorized" player. Anyone under the age of 21 or people who work for or do business with the Iowa Lottery are all prohibited by law from playing Hot Lotto and other Iowa Lottery games.

Bogle, along with Iowa Lottery president and C.E.O. Terry Rich, spoke with reporters late this morning.

"Our job is to make sure we're conducting a fair game, that we pay the right person, that the person hasn't violated any laws," Rich said. "That's not to accuse (anybody of) anything here."

Lottery officials have reviewed the security video from the Des Moines convenience store where the ticket was purchased, but they're not saying whether it was a man or a woman who bought the ticket, only that it appeared the person was of legal age to buy it, although that must be confirmed with the in-person interviews as well.

"Our hope that is Mr. Shaw walks in, tells us the story, we make a couple of calls to the people and talk to those people or go out and meet with those people or he brings them with (him) and (lottery security chief) Steve (Bogle) says, 'Hey, all good,'" Rich said. "Because of the circumstances of coming in late, because of the mystery we've all seen with this, it's our fiduciary responsibility to take an extra step and to see some of that."

Lottery officials say the ticket is worth more than $10 million if the winner or winners choose a lump sum cash pay-out. If an annuity option is chosen, the 25-annual payments will amount to more than $14 million.

During today's news conference, a reporter asked about the "who-done-it" mystery surrounding this ticket. The lottery's security chief conceded this case has been "unique" and Lottery vice president Mary Neubauer said there's been "overwhelming" interest in this particular ticket.

"Those of us who work at the lottery, if folks know that we work at the lottery, we can barely walk five feet these days without someone asking about this jackpot-winning ticket," Neubauer said. "...Definitely the public is fascinated by this story and wants to know more."

The ticket was turned in at lottery headquarters in Des Moines less than two hours before the jackpot would have expired on December 29, 2011. Shaw, the attorney from New York, has indicated he signed the ticket as a trustee of Hexam Investments Trust.

AUDIO: Listen to the 35-minute news conference (Thurs., Jan. 12, 2012)

Thanks to Starr920 for the tip

RadioIowa

Comments

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

I can't help but feel that this "Security Chief" has a little bit of an ego problem.

I'm waiting for him to make the rounds on the talk show circuit and announce he's writing a book about "the case".

TheRightPrice

In my opinion, the folks in Iowa are bored. No one else laid claim to this ticket and if a lottery employee quits his or her job within the next few days then you've got your culprit.

Bottom line is no one else claimed this ticket, hate to see this money go back to the state

sully16's avatarsully16

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Jan 17, 2012

I can't help but feel that this "Security Chief" has a little bit of an ego problem.

I'm waiting for him to make the rounds on the talk show circuit and announce he's writing a book about "the case".

I agree, he needs to step down a notch , Do lottery winners really need to be GRILLED ?

time*treat's avatartime*treat

Quote: Originally posted by sully16 on Jan 17, 2012

I agree, he needs to step down a notch , Do lottery winners really need to be GRILLED ?

As long as you're not winning, it's all good. Wink

MADDOG10's avatarMADDOG10

I agree he needs to drop it down a couple of notches. What he really should be doing is to keep watching whats going on around him, instead of counting what could be going through his hands..!

dpoly1's avatardpoly1

Pay the money!  Another government hack with too much time on his hands. Sounds like Bogel has a guilty conscious!
Government IS the problem!

jarasan's avatarjarasan

Where are the frinking occupiers when you em???????????????????????????????

OCCUPY the IOWA LOTTERY INQUISITOR BOGLEMADA!

Inquisiton

dr65's avatardr65

The wrong party is under investigation...it should be Iowa State Lottery. Who wants to play in a state where

they don't want to pay you or try and have someone come up with a reason why you shouldn't be paid what

you won? Bad business Iowa. Thumbs Down

Now I wish the ticket would have been claimed with 5 minutes to go Evil Smile...someone was licking their chops.

They might have just been drooling all over the place with less than 1/2 hour to go.

I say: Pay up!

Arrowhead's avatarArrowhead

Not discounting fact Iowa Lotto is playing this in very strange fashion, but something tells me there's a good reason and interesting story is coming up. If not, there's going to be a real sh*tstorm for those state lotto officials.

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

This has all the makings of a LMN (Lifetime Movie)Lurking

PERDUE

 Neubauer said. "...Definitely the public is fascinated by this story and wants to know more."

 

I don't...

I could care less.

Authenticate the ticket, pay the money, and move on.

 

"Just meeting with Mr. Shaw is not going to be enough for me to give a recommendation...to pay this ticket," Bogle says.

Bogle better get a c4 sniffing dog and have his stuff scanned for flammable dog poop. lol

At this rate aint no telling what disgruntled winners and losers are likely to mail him.

Bogle reminds me of the stupid boyfriend in the original movie, "Day The Earth Stood Still."

"When this is over, I'll be a big hero. You'll see."

gocart1's avatargocart1

Quote: Originally posted by dr65 on Jan 17, 2012

The wrong party is under investigation...it should be Iowa State Lottery. Who wants to play in a state where

they don't want to pay you or try and have someone come up with a reason why you shouldn't be paid what

you won? Bad business Iowa. Thumbs Down

Now I wish the ticket would have been claimed with 5 minutes to go Evil Smile...someone was licking their chops.

They might have just been drooling all over the place with less than 1/2 hour to go.

I say: Pay up!

I Agree! Pay the guy his money and lets move onto the next drawing...

ChazzMatt

Quote: Originally posted by sully16 on Jan 17, 2012

I agree, he needs to step down a notch , Do lottery winners really need to be GRILLED ?

Yes.  Questions do need to be asked.

There was a scandal two or three years ago where some state's lottery tech employees with top-level system access were able to print duplicate winning tickets and have friends claim the money.  The tickets they printed were identical to the winning tickets.  These guys were sys admins at the state lottery headquarters, and had access to terminals and printers.  They manipulated the system so the tickets they printed were identical to the winning tickets printed out at the stores.

These guys would wait until a ticket with a "minor" prize ($10,000 or even $1,000) was about to expire, then send a friend/relative to collect the winnings.  They would then split the money.

So many tickets are never checked -- collecting dust in drawers or even run the the washing machine or accidentally thrown away.  Those tickets expire and the money goes back to the state.  These guys figured if the tickets had not been presented in almost six months time, they would probably not be presented.  They would print an identical ticket and get someone to pretend to be the purchaser.  Why let it that money go to waste? Embarassed  Well, because that's grand larceny and a host of other crimes.

Lottery officials in this state finally figured out something was going on when so many "just in time" tickets started being presented.  Arrests were made.

So, with this case, if these people waited SIX MONTHS to collect on a $10 MILLION ticket, then they aren't going to mind waiting just a little longer, are they?  The lottery security just wants to make sure everything is legit about this ticket.

____________

The statistics spike that caused that other scandal to be uncovered is also what fingered all those convenience store clerks that stole winning lottery tickets from purchasers.  They would tell people they weren't a winner, or had won a few dollars, then try to claim the big prize for themselves.  So now when someone connected to a store that sells tickets has a winning ticket, extra questions are asked.

HaveABall's avatarHaveABall

Quote: Originally posted by ChazzMatt on Jan 18, 2012

Yes.  Questions do need to be asked.

There was a scandal two or three years ago where some state's lottery tech employees with top-level system access were able to print duplicate winning tickets and have friends claim the money.  The tickets they printed were identical to the winning tickets.  These guys were sys admins at the state lottery headquarters, and had access to terminals and printers.  They manipulated the system so the tickets they printed were identical to the winning tickets printed out at the stores.

These guys would wait until a ticket with a "minor" prize ($10,000 or even $1,000) was about to expire, then send a friend/relative to collect the winnings.  They would then split the money.

So many tickets are never checked -- collecting dust in drawers or even run the the washing machine or accidentally thrown away.  Those tickets expire and the money goes back to the state.  These guys figured if the tickets had not been presented in almost six months time, they would probably not be presented.  They would print an identical ticket and get someone to pretend to be the purchaser.  Why let it that money go to waste? Embarassed  Well, because that's grand larceny and a host of other crimes.

Lottery officials in this state finally figured out something was going on when so many "just in time" tickets started being presented.  Arrests were made.

So, with this case, if these people waited SIX MONTHS to collect on a $10 MILLION ticket, then they aren't going to mind waiting just a little longer, are they?  The lottery security just wants to make sure everything is legit about this ticket.

____________

The statistics spike that caused that other scandal to be uncovered is also what fingered all those convenience store clerks that stole winning lottery tickets from purchasers.  They would tell people they weren't a winner, or had won a few dollars, then try to claim the big prize for themselves.  So now when someone connected to a store that sells tickets has a winning ticket, extra questions are asked.

Good example, ChazzMatt, of presidence as a reason for prudence. Snowman

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