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Massachusetts awards lottery prize to rightful ownerNews Story
For someone who said she only had $400 to her name before yesterday, Erika Schmitt is smiling at 35 times that amount after finally getting the $14,000 she won playing a Lucky Stars lottery game. This is a lot for me, Schmitt said yesterday after Joseph Sullivan, director of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission, handed her a check. I'm going to get a haircut and a car. The 18-year-old Westborough resident waited more than a month for the money because a Westborough store clerk allegedly
Mar 4, 2004, 4:19 am - Lottery News

Colorado Lottery marketing director put on paid leave, probe continuesNews Story
The director of the Colorado Lottery has placed the Lottery's marketing director on paid administrative leave, and the Cabinet member who oversees the Lottery said Monday that more may follow as a probe into the Lottery continues. I can't say that this is where it ends in terms of employees who are affected, said M. Michael Cooke, chief of the state Department of Revenue. That remains to be seen. Dan Noreen, a longtime Lottery employee making $100,284 a year, was placed on leave Thursday.Noree
Mar 2, 2004, 6:03 am - Lottery News

Eight win lottery thanks to fortune cookiesNews Story
Eight people in Brazil won the lottery after getting the numbers from fortune cookies.The Caixa Economica Federal Bank launched an investigation because they were all from the same region.Eight of the 15 people who won the lottery in the north-east of Brazil told investigators they got the numbers from fortune cookies.The bank found out that the numbers had appeared in fortune cookies sold by the same company to more than 50 restaurants in the north-eastern states of Brazil.The lucky numbers wer
Feb 24, 2004, 5:54 am - Lottery News

Five charged in Pennsylvania lottery ticket theftsNews Story
A mother and daughter and three other employees of a Scranton, Pennsylvania convenience market stole more than $62,000 last year by taking thousands of instant lottery tickets and cashing in winners, a Lackawanna County detective charged Thursday.The five were tripped up when the owner of Sdventh Avenue Kwik N Ezy Kwik Mart noticed a large discrepancy in lottery ticket sales during a year-end review of accounts, according to an arrest affidavit.They are charged with single counts of theft by unl
Feb 20, 2004, 6:44 am - Lottery News

Minnesota Lottery audit finds high costs, no crimeNews Story
The Minnesota State Lottery spends more money and provides less to the state than comparable lotteries and should revisit its ties to the St. Paul-based marketing company Media Rare Inc., auditors reported Thursday.Legislative Auditor James Nobles released the audit of the lottery about three weeks after former Lottery Director George Andersen died, apparently by suicide. Andersen had met with auditors about the review the day before he was found dead. We found many things to question and critic
Feb 20, 2004, 6:36 am - Lottery News

Head of Nebraska Lottery Resigns After Inquiry Clears HimNews Story
The head of the Nebraska lottery resigned Wednesday, a week after an investigation cleared him of wrongdoing for taking his wife on a trip to Greece that was paid for by a lottery vendor. Looking at this from a professional perspective, I determined that it is probably time for me to move on, James Quinn said in a statement.Quinn and his wife, Kathy, traveled to Greece in September to inspect Intralot USA's operations after the Duluth, Ga., company won a contract to operate the Nebraska lottery
Feb 19, 2004, 7:06 am - Lottery News

Extensive Minnesota lottery probe underwayNews Story
Minnesota gambling enforcement agents have begun a sweeping investigation into the Minnesota State Lottery that likely will involve inspecting hundreds of contracts with vendors for any improprieties. It is expected to take months to complete. As far as I'm concerned, there are no boundaries, said Norm Pint, special agent in charge of the gambling enforcement division of the Department of Public Safety, which is conducting the probe.Pint said Wednesday that the investigation was prompted by the
Feb 19, 2004, 6:58 am - Lottery News

Nebraska Lottery Director Cleared in TripNews Story
The Nebraska Lottery director will not face criminal charges over a trip to Greece with his wife, whose expenses were paid by a lottery vendor, the attorney general said Thursday.An investigation concluded James Quinn always intended to repay the $5,000 cost of his wife's trip, Attorney General Jon Bruning said. Public officials are banned from accepting gifts of travel or lodging for their spouse while on state business.Quinn, who has been suspended with pay, did not return a message left at hi
Feb 13, 2004, 7:39 am - Lottery News

Lottery director's friend also tried to commit suicide, report saysNews Story
The state's finance commissioner had been actively reviewing the management of the Minnesota State Lottery when lottery director George Andersen committed suicide.Dan McElroy, who is now Gov. Tim Pawlenty's chief of staff, had found enough lapses to warrant a sharp letter to Andersen but he told reporters Thursday he didn't discover anything that suggested Andersen had done anything criminal. He said he isn't sure whether Andersen would have lost his job over the findings. I'm not aware of any a
Feb 13, 2004, 7:31 am - Lottery News

Strongly worded letter sent to lottery director before his deathNews Story
After being directed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the state's finance commissioner has worked with the Minnesota State Lottery since last spring to tighten operations, but enough lapses continued that a strongly worded letter was sent to lottery director George Andersen shortly before his death, the Pioneer Press reported.Andersen resisted one of the Finance Department's key recommendations and did not address another major shortcoming identified by the agency. That led, in part, to the letter by Finan
Feb 12, 2004, 6:35 am - Lottery News