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Audit of frequent Pennsylvania Lottery winners draws concernNews Story
Lottery pushes back against stricter auditing processes for potential fraud By Kate Northrop The Pennsylvania Lottery is butting heads with Pennsylvania Auditor General Tim DeFoor on whether stronger controls are needed to monitor frequent lottery winners. An audit conducted on Pennsylvania Lottery winners of prizes between July 1, 2017 through Jan. 26, 2021 revealed that the Lottery gathers data on players who claim prizes of $600 and above solely for tax-related purposes but does
Nov 20, 2021, 7:28 pm - Lottery News

Pennsylvania woman sues online slots company after being refused jackpot payoutNews Story
More than a dozen other players with similar complaints By Kate Northrop A Pennsylvania slots player filed a lawsuit against the manufacturer of an online slots game after it refused to pay out a $100,000 jackpot caused by a bug. More than a dozen other players lodged similar complaints against the same company, claiming that they won far more than what the company was willing to pay out, New Jersey regulators say. Lisa Piluso, of Yardley, a Pennsylvania town near the New Jers
Nov 17, 2021, 11:34 am - Lottery News

Ohio lottery winner wins $1 million but claims losses of $1 millionNews Story
Shifty player thought he could skirt the IRS By Kate Northrop An Ohio Lottery player who won $1 million is in hot water with the IRS after falsely claiming gambling losses of $1 million and wiring his winnings abroad. Mustafa Shalash, of Hillard, was charged with one count of filing a false tax return with the IRS after winning a $1 million prize and then claiming gambling losses of an equal amount. In 2015, Shalash won a $1 million prize on a single lottery ticket and received
Nov 12, 2021, 11:35 am - Lottery News

Twelve individuals and three stores indicted in Massachusetts lottery schemeNews Story
Another fraud ring is caught By Kate Northrop On Tuesday, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced that twelve individuals and three stores in the state were indicted in connection with an ongoing scheme to launder lottery winnings and thus avoid paying taxes. The Massachusetts State Lottery Commission (MSLC), in conjunction with State Police, discovered that twelve individuals conspired to evade taxes in a calculated scheme to defraud the state of taxes on lottery winnings
Oct 28, 2021, 12:42 pm - Lottery News

Massachusetts father and sons accused of defrauding Lottery of $21 millionNews Story
Statistically improbable number of wins raises red flags By Kate Northrop A Massachusetts family is accused of defrauding the Massachusetts Lottery of nearly $21 million in a tax evasion scheme that took place over the past decade. It wouldn't be farfetched to say that cashing in more than 13,000 winning lottery tickets worth almost $21 million over eight years would be statistically impossible, if not improbable. This many wins could not simply be attributed to sheer luck. A stati
Aug 25, 2021, 11:00 am - Lottery News

Lottery scammer stole nearly $1 million from one elderly womanNews Story
Crook is sentenced to nine years in federal prison By Kate Northrop On Wednesday, a scammer who stole almost $1 million from one single victim in a lottery scheme was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison. Leonard Luton, a Jamaican national living in Brooklyn, New York, scammed an elderly woman from Estes Park, Colorado of more than $970,000, according to prosecutors. Court documents show that Luton and another Jamaican national worked together in a scam to convince the woman tha
Aug 10, 2021, 5:37 pm - Lottery News

Lottery scammers steal $1.2 million from one victimNews Story
Crook receives six years in prison for crimes of conspiracy and fraud By Kate Northrop After stealing over $1 million from one single victim, the leader of a ring of Jamaican scam artists was sentenced Friday to almost six years in prison. Like any typical scammer, Stieve Fernandez, 35, spent his time deceiving vulnerable individuals and robbing elderly targets of their life savings as part of a high-functioning underground network of lottery fraudsters. Fernandez was said to h
Jul 12, 2021, 12:45 pm - Lottery News

Loto-Québec IT technician accused of stealing thousands from customer accountsNews Story
By Kate Northrop After a year-long investigation, a former employee at Loto-Qu bec was accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from customer accounts that were supposedly inactive. Martin Raymond, 37, a former systems analyst who worked at an online gambling call center at Loto-Qu bec, was accused Wednesday of stealing funds from customer accounts he deemed inactive. He stole over $20,000 (US$16,000) from about 30 customer gaming accounts in over a few months between the winter and s
Jul 10, 2021, 2:50 pm - Lottery News

Iowa man accused of lottery fraud for cashing ticket on friend's behalfNews Story
Friend of lottery winner pleads not guilty By Kate Northrop An associate of a lottery winner pleaded not guilty to lottery fraud after being accused of falsely cashing in a $50,000 winning scratch-off ticket. The Fort Dodge man was charged with one count of lottery fraud, a Class D felony classified as forgery or theft of a ticket, for turning in a winning lottery ticket that reportedly did not belong to him. Skyler Sturgis Hay, 29, allegedly committed the offense in 2018 when he vis
Mar 31, 2021, 2:14 pm - Lottery News

South Carolina store owner who sold $1.5 billion Mega Millions ticket is arrestedNews Story
Retailer re-enters the spotlight after skirting thousands in tax evasion By Kate Northrop The South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) announced on Saturday that the store owner who sold the winning ticket for the $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot in 2018 has been arrested and charged with five counts of tax evasion. Chirag Jayanti Patel, 49, was found to have underreported $2.04 million in sales while operating KCP, Inc. under the KC Mart convenience store business in Greenville
Mar 15, 2021, 4:11 pm - Lottery News