Twelve people, including four public employees, are accused of attempting to embezzle 160 million pesos ($12.1 million) from Mexico's national lottery, authorities said.
Around $8 million of the money has been recovered, the Attorney General's Office and several other federal agencies said in a joint statement.
The announcement followed a front-page story in capital daily Reforma that revealed some details of the scheme to rig the Jan. 22 drawing.
Four directors of state-owned lottery administrator PAP, two employees of Just Marketing, the private firm that films and broadcasts the drawings, and six other people conspired to hold and videotape the drawing ahead of the deadline for purchasing tickets, Reforma said.
The conspirators then deceived an interior ministry official into certifying the drawing as valid.
The scam was detected by a PAP manager who noticed that the prize was claimed by relatives of Just Marketing executives and employees, according to the newspaper's account.
Sources in the federal inspector general's office told Efe the investigation is still in progress and that the official government statement was prompted by the Reforma story.
The four PAP directors implicated in the case have been removed from their posts, the Mexican government said.
Hey that was my idea!! I wonder if i can sue them for copyright infringement...
That would make an interesting movie...
It is scary though, really it makes me wonder how many nefarious plots have been attempted in the states
Criminal Activity in Mexico ?!?!
Whoda' Thunkit!
Now if they could just convince those senior lottery executives, to wear those new hard wired brain contraptions that Boner was alluding to,
they could all be brainwashed, or have their memories erased just after the lottery drawing. Problem solved!
Get it right next time guys. The second time should work like a charm!
"The scam was detected by a PAP manager who noticed that the prize was claimed by relatives of Just Marketing executives and employees, according to the newspaper's account."
Good thinking on the part of the PAP manager!
What would surprise me the most is if this was the first time this has happened in Mexico.
The police and the army can't protect anybody from the drug cartels.
If they wanted to win the jackpot, I'm sure someone would facilitate that for them.
Or else.
12 arrested in conspiracy to rig Mexico lottery drawing..
there's a shocker....why wouldn't the cartels have pull within the lottery too?.Hell they own the government down there
I bet that PAP Manager comes up missing real soon. He just ratted on a Family run business.
Its hard to offer protection from the drug cartels...especially if the drug cartels are using American Military hardware...I wouldn't be surprised if the drug cartels were behind this scheme...
Roger that, exactly what I was thinking.
This is why conspiracy's dont work, you always leave out the guy who can figure it out!!
I would say they forgot to pay off another person.....the one that turned them in .