Chinese Man Hacks Lottery System, Gets Life in Prison
Note to self: Next visit to China, don't try rigging the lottery.
A Chinese lottery ticket seller has been jailed for life for fraud for taking advantage of a system flaw to cash 28 million yuan ($3.76 million) in tickets illegally, state media said Tuesday.
Zhao Liqun discovered the flaw in the Welfare Lottery 3D system in 2005 that let a person buy tickets with the right numbers within five minutes of their being announced, sources at the Intermediate People's Court in Anshan, northea ...
Nov 8, 2007, 2:36 pm - - Lottery News forum
Oregon waitress gets four years in lottery heist
A 33-year-old Beaverton, Oregon, waitress was sentenced to four years in prison today for robbing a lottery outlet and hitting the clerk over the head with a whiskey bottle.
Angela Marie Kotoff pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery. As part of a plea deal, the case was removed from Measure 11 sentencing and charges of second-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon were dropped.
According to police reports, Kotoff went to Dotty's Deli at 12266 S.W. Scholls Ferry Road in Tigard after s ...
Sep 26, 2007, 11:40 am - - Lottery News forum
Woman must forfeit $1 million lottery jackpot
A White City, Oregon, woman must turn over her lottery winnings after a judge said she won them illegally.
Prosecutors said Christina Goodenow, of White City, used a credit card that belonged to her then-boyfriend's dead mother to buy a winning $1 million Scratch-It ticket in Oct. 2005.
Goodenow asked lottery officials to keep her win quiet, claiming to be a victim of domestic violence. But police learned of the crime about two weeks later, as Goodenow continued to use the stolen credit ca ...
Aug 11, 2007, 9:21 pm - - Lottery News forum
Former N.C. Lottery commissioner sentenced to 4 years in prison
Former lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings was sentenced to four years in prison today on charges that he hid his financial ties to a company expected to bid for the state's lottery business.
US District Court Judge James Dever the Third imposed a prison term seven months longer than the maximum sentence recommended by court officials. They suggested that Geddings receive up to almost three and a half years in prison.
Dever also fined Geddings $25,000 but says he doesn't have to report t ...
May 7, 2007, 5:59 pm - - Lottery News forum
Lawyer in $315 million lottery lawsuits ordered to pay fine
A lawyer representing three people who sued their co-workers seeking a share of their $315 million lottery win was ordered Tuesday to pay a nearly $382,000 fine.
Orange County Judge Michael Brenner ordered attorney Mark H. Williams to pay the seven lottery winners after determining he pursued the lawsuits knowing the allegations lacked merit.
The amount was the equivalent to legal fees incurred by the Lucky Seven, who pooled money to buy the winning Mega Millions multi-state lottery tick ...
Mar 22, 2007, 10:00 am - - Lottery News forum
Man fined $225,000 for role in lottery scheme
A White Rock, British Columbia, man who pleaded guilty to being involved in a direct-mail lottery scheme that brought in $47 million has been fined $225,000.
Tom Taylor, 60, participated in selling shares of lottery tickets to thousands of residents in the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand who sent in money for a share over a seven-year period ending in 2002.
In addition to the fine, Mr. Taylor, who was charged under lottery and gaming provisions in the Criminal Code, must ...
Dec 14, 2006, 6:54 am - - Lottery News forum
Lottery 'joke' wins man fine, year probation
James A. Koons Jr.'s practical joke backfired in a big way.
According to his attorney, the Hegins man thought it would be funny to fake a $853,496 winning Powerball ticket and leave it underneath a newspaper in the break room at the Roadway Express terminal in Middlesex Twp.
Instead of a laugh, Koons and an unwitting co-worker ended up in a legal mess.
Yesterday, Cumberland County President Judge Edgar B. Bayley sentenced Koons, 38, to 12 months of probation and fined him $2,500 for ...
Dec 6, 2006, 7:30 am - - Lottery News forum
Man who stole winning lottery ticket gets 5 years
A judge on Friday sentenced Sam Grair to five years and four months in prison for stealing a lottery ticket worth $524,000 at the store where he worked.
Grair, 43, pleaded guilty in September to grand theft and presenting a fraudulent claim to a government agency.
Prosecutor Howard Wise said the message is this: It is a deterrent to any store clerk that is in a position of trust so they won't do the same thing.
Wise said Grair, of Camarillo, had no prior criminal history.
In cour ...
Nov 18, 2006, 10:45 am - - Lottery News forum
Wife Orders Hit on Russian Lottery Winner
An angry Russian woman from the small town in the Caucasus hired a criminal to kill her ex-husband who had won a million rubles in a lottery, the News.ru website reported Friday.
48-year-old retired military officer Alexei Rykov had bought just one lottery ticket as a present for his own birthday and the ticket proved to be lucky the man won one million rubles (about $37,000). He used the money to buy an apartment (until then the family was renting) and a car.
After a while his wife Irin ...
Nov 3, 2006, 8:54 am - - Lottery News forum
N.C. Lottery conviction sends message about disclosure
More indictments may be forthcoming
Voluntary public servants beware: Withholding information about your past could get you in serious trouble.
Changes in North Carolina ethics laws will make it harder for appointed members of boards and commissions to hide potential conflicts of interests, and the new law stiffens penalties when disclosures are incomplete.
But the five felony fraud convictions given by a federal jury Thursday to a former state lottery commissioner who lied about his p ...
Oct 18, 2006, 5:16 pm - - Lottery News forum
