Report reveals lack of investigative procedures for high-winning individuals
By Kate Northrop
A report conducted by the Office of Legislative Audits in 2022 revealed security concerns that suggest possible collusion between lottery winners and vendors in the state of Maryland.
The report, published and viewable online by the Maryland Department of Legislative Services, reviews a fiscal compliance audit of the State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency (SLGCA) between Jan. 3, 2017 and Oct. 15, 2020.
According to the Department, the evaluation committees found that "SLGCA had not established procedures to identify and investigate individuals who won multiple high-dollar lottery prizes (in some cases 200 or more times in a year) to identify patterns of potential collusion between players and lottery related vendors or officials."
The SLGCA is responsible for overseeing the state's lottery games and casinos, important for generating revenue for the state's multiple funds and other agencies. By extension, the SLGCA is in charge of marketing and developing lottery games, as well as regulating the ongoing operations of the state's video lottery terminals and table games.
SLGCA records show that 362 individuals won high-dollar prizes 20 or more times during the 2020 calendar year. Of these individuals, eight of them won high-dollar prizes 200 or more times, totaling over $4.46 million in winnings alone. Two of these players won the Multi-Match game a combined 439 times for $919,300 in winnings, six players won Racetrax 1,247 times for $1.7 million, and five won the Pick 4 game 505 times for $1.6 million. One individual also won the Pick 4 top prize of $5,000 79 times.
The prizes won by all 362 individuals totals $31.31 million paid out in 2020.
"Based on available information, we could not readily determine whether any of the winnings cited here were not legitimate, and data relating to the total number of times these individuals played a lottery game and the extent of any losses they may have incurred was not available," the report says. "However, considering the high rates of winnings noted, SLGCA should review patterns of winning tickets to identify where they were sold and redeemed, and attempt to identify relationships between winners and other high quantity winners, lottery retailers, and SLGCA or SLGCA vendor employees."
To mitigate the risk of possible collusion, the evaluation committee urged SLGCA to implement procedures for "routinely identifying and investigating unusually high winning rates by individual players" that may affect the legitimacy of winnings.
Additionally, the report found evidence of nepotism within the SLGCA, where a management employee approved a nearly $5,000 salary increases for an immediate family member employed at SLCGA in May 2019. According to the report, the management employee was not the employee's supervisor, and there was no documentation justifying the pay increase.
In another instance, an SLGCA employee directly supervised a family member also employed at SLGCA between April 2015 and February 2021. Between 2016 and 2020, the supervisor approved $7,670 in overtime earnings, 27 days of administrative leave, and 35 days of sick leave, and granted a promotion and two raises that resulted in a salary increase of nearly $6,000. SLGCA management changed the employee's supervisor and contacted the State Ethics Commission "for advice and counsel" upon learning about the situation.
Maryland prohibits an employee from using their position for their own personal or the gain of another person, especially if there is an observable interest in the matter from an employee or qualifying relative.
In response to the findings, the committee recommended that the SLGCA refers future salary approval issues to the State Ethics Commission and take appropriate action based on their direction.
What a mess. Does some of these winnings sound like an inside job? Hint hint.
How do you "inside job" Pick 4
(We know how Eddie Tipton did it).
Good point....tomorrow if I think or care about it will see if MD uses sucky RNG or if you what to call it CNG, that's fine.
OTOH tomorrow a $1.3 million ticket set to expire in CA; Powerball secondary prize sold in Sacramento in November.
SLGCA records show that 362 individuals won high-dollar prizes 20 or more times during the 2020 calendar year.
And they probably bought most of those tickets from someone that didn't want to fill out a W-2G. But it looks like SLGCA looked the other way when some people were cashing large jackpots multiple times for the real winners.
Forcing players to prove they bought a winning ticket or making rules against buying tickets as gifts, not much they can do to prevent it. The thing is, most of us here know why some people are cashing multiple tickets; why don't the lottery people know it too?
"to identify patterns of potential collusion between players and lottery related vendors or officials." Uh yeah, players look for patterns too....duh! And stack47 is possibly right, some peeps trying to avoid taxes and child support by using a "ticket broker" to collect their winnings (very plausible and not the vendors involved).
In NC, they are the corrupt ones and only let us win when they want to. So who is "more" wrong, players who find patterns and win big, or the lotteries who rig the drawings by pre-taping them and calculating winnings before they air a drawing?
I sure wish the feds would investigate the NCEL (NC Extortion Lottery) as they have been taking us for a ride for years!
In any case, you win a few times (too many) and you will catch they eye of your local lottery as a cheater no matter what.
"Based on available information, we could not readily determine whether any of the winnings cited here were not legitimate, and data relating to the total number of times these individuals played a lottery game and the extent of any losses they may have incurred was not available,"
So in the case of a lottery "GUILTY until proven innocent", unless they can't find anything SMH!
Where is Eddie Tipton when we need him to unravel this case?
"I sure wish the feds would investigate the NCEL (NC Extortion Lottery) as they have been taking us for a ride for years!"
Hell, the Fedz need to investigate MUSL...the Math says, drawing resultz ARE being Manipulated/ rigged..chancez are they're ALL on the take..!!
"8 people won "high dollar" prizes over 200 times." I'm no math genius, but there are only 365 days in a year. That means these people were winning a "high dollar" prize every 1.8 days. That is a mind blowing winning percentage. My question is .....how can I become one of those 8 people??
It's all ball drawings. Except for Racetrax which is a computer animated game, where you pick horses.
Kind of like Deja Vu with the Massachusetts lottery. The MA lottery did get wise to those few individuals though. Not good @ names, but 20/20 or one of those shows did a story on one guy who made a killing by purchasing thousands of MA lottery tickets. I think LP did a story too.
This has FRAUD written all over it, and Maryland players should demand an investigation!!!
I live in Maryland, I play mostly the ball draws P4 P3 BM5 and little MM. The one that is interesting is the 2 players that won 439 times the multi match that is pretty amazing. All the others could be OK. I believe the biggest scam in all states are ticket cashing mules, people cashing tix for people w/o SS numbers you know, like non citizens. There are millions w/o SS numbers. I've seen it first hand, a mule at work. In MD now you don't fill out a form you have to provide Drivers License, SS#, and phone number. Every terminal has a unique identifier and every ticket has the terminal number printed on it, they could determine very quickly what is going on. MD lottery is pretty good because it is mostly ball draws, the state is so so, there is grift everywhere in the three counties that ruin this state PG Mont. and Baltimore.
Here is what I think, all lotteries should not collect taxes on winnings Fed and State, sales would explode and the mules would be put out of business you know like they do in the rest of the world. But the states are hooked on the tax revenue on top of the lottery profits greedy very greedy basturds.
I think the SLGCA is passing the winning knowledge down to family members and friends. (Inside job, - fraud all over it). I think members and family members of the SLGCA should be prohibited from playing in states where they work and all states that have Ball Drawings. Seems to me they're
Passing the Bucks. If they investigate the winners they would probably find out that, alot of the winners had association family members work for the SLGCA. JMO.
They are ball draws, very hard to pull off. Keno and Race Track maybe...
Not hard to rig it is they pre-tape drawing like they do in NC. They close the draw and allow time enough to calculate what they might pay out, then run a piece of video with that drawing. Not hard to pull off, they just solan it out.