Former lottery 'numbers' operator rebuilds life after jail
At the height of his career operating an illegal lottery called the numbers, Otis Ray was running four-digit bar tabs in his $70,000 Titans stadium suite and rubbing elbows with Nashville's elite.Now, just months out of prison, Ray, 53, is working as night watchman at a local Comfort Inn and rebuilding his life on $6-an-hour wages.Ray spent nearly 25 years working in the underground lottery. Just one month after he was sent to federal prison in December 2003, the Tennessee Lottery sold its fir ...
Oct 1, 2005, 9:34 am - Lottery News forum
Four accused in Florida lottery ticket fraud
Stuart Elvia Urieta had heard about scheme in which someone claims to be an undocumented immigrant who needs an American citizen -- and money to cash a winning lottery ticket.So the 13-year Stuart resident was suspicious when a woman asked her for $29,000 to cash a ticket reportedly worth $325 million last weekend.Urieta called authorities, who on Tuesday announced a rare arrest in one of the common lottery frauds. You know you can never find these people because they come and go so quick, said ...
Sep 14, 2005, 6:22 am - Lottery News forum
Store clerk accused of stealing $1M lottery ticket
A Circle K clerk in Nogales, Arizona is accused of stealing a lottery ticket and then collecting the $1 million winnings.The Attorney General's Office says the ticket was one of several that a man had brought in to the clerk's store to check to see if he had won anything.Authorities allege that clerk Delia Kerr returned the other tickets to the man, but kept the jackpot-winning The Pick ticket.The man didn't know he had won the jackpot, but complained to the store manager that one of his ticke ...
Aug 18, 2005, 5:03 pm - Lottery News forum
Former Texas Lottery employee indicted in scam
Woman accused of taking money from those hoping to be ticket sellersA former employee of the Texas Lottery Commission has been indicted for allegedly defrauding retailers who applied to become Texas Lottery vendors.The indictment charges Taneil Gage with one count of theft by a public servant of more than $500 but less than $1,500. The offense is a state jail felony punishable by up to two years behind bars.The alleged scam in June and July 2003 preyed on retailers who didn't meet minimum credit ...
Jul 20, 2005, 11:33 am - Lottery News forum
Spain detains 295 people in lottery scam
Spanish police have detained 295 West Africans on charges of attempting to swindle money from thousands of people by claiming they had won in a Nigerian lottery, radio reports said on Wednesday.Most of the suspects detained on Tuesday were Nigerians, while some came from Ghana. Police searched numerous addresses in the southern city of Malaga.At least two of the detainees were treated in hospital for broken bones after jumping out of a window when trying to escape. Those arrested included owners ...
Jul 20, 2005, 10:33 am - Lottery News forum
Texas lottery board charges bingo machine supplier fixed prices
A bingo machine supplier has been charged with fixing prices and selling its products directly to charities, according to state records and public filings.The Texas Lottery Commission will hear evidence Friday against Game Tech International, the largest supplier of electronic bingo machines in Texas.The allegations concern the behavior of a former employee and are untrue, said Andrejs K. Bunkse, general counsel for Game Tech. We will actively defend ourselves and believe there will be no findin ...
Jun 21, 2005, 8:09 am - Lottery News forum
Texas Lottery accused of over-inflating jackpots
The Attorney General's Office will examine allegations that the Texas Lottery Commission is inflating the advertised jackpots for its Lotto game because ticket sales are too sluggish to support the high payouts.Lottery officials rejected the allegations, but acknowledged that because of lagging ticket sales, for the first time in the game's history they would be unable to boost their jackpot estimate for Saturday's drawing if no one wins Wednesday night.Dawn Nettles, publisher of the online Lott ...
Jun 9, 2005, 11:48 am - Lottery News forum
Unclaimed lottery winnings scam targets elderly
Oregon State Police plan to announce today that they are investigating a scam targeting the elderly that promises large unclaimed lottery winnings from two fictitious Salem companies.The scam has claimed at least seven victims in Georgia, Florida, California and Pennsylvania who combined have lost about $30,000, Detective Rich Dennis of the Oregon State Police said Wednesday.Here's how the scam works: A letter arrives in the mail on letterhead from fake Salem firms Golden Lotto Mega Bucks or Top ...
Jun 9, 2005, 10:30 am - Lottery News forum
Clerk enters plea in Mass. lottery-ticket case
A North Andover, Massachusetts convenience store clerk pleaded innocent Wednesday to cashing in a customer s winning lottery ticket. Prosecutors say Patrick Simboli told customer Elizabeth Geladeres of Raymond, N.H., that she d won $2 on a Cash Winfall ticket purchased at his store May 9. In fact, the ticket was worth $32,000, after taxes.Police say he kept the ticket and claimed the prize. The Massachusetts Lottery Commission has confirmed that Simboli cashed in the winning ticket.He was arra ...
May 26, 2005, 12:21 pm - Lottery News forum
NY takes $5 million from lottery winners for child support, welfare
New York lottery officials announced Tuesday that the state has taken nearly $5 million from thousands of lottery jackpots before they were released to winners and applied the money to owed child-support payments or to recover a portion of welfare given to winners over the last decade. The move is part of the state's Lottery Intercept Program that has diverted nearly $10 million in winnings to child support, and more than $25 million in winnings toward public assistance since it was adopted in 1 ...
May 24, 2005, 6:38 pm - Lottery News forum
