Court rejects Colorado man's claim to full $4.8M lottery jackpot he unwittingly split with scammers

Comment #39

Stack47 — Sun, 30 Jun 2019 03:45:24 GMT

One of MUSL and Iowa Lottery's arguments was paying Dawson would create a situation where they must hold up all prize payments until they could determine there was no fraud, draw fixing, or another Eddie Tipton was playing with the RNG computer. The judge didn't buy it.

Something to consider. Dawson is claiming the unclaimed Tipton prize should be his because he was the next winner. But what about all the people that didn't play the drawings after because the jackpot was low?

Oh and let's... [ More ]

Comment #38

noise-gate — Sun, 30 Jun 2019 01:15:30 GMT

l read where Karen Romano, the Judge rejected the State Commissions attorneys the right to dismiss Stack. It seems Dawson figures that his prize should have been $ 25.5 mil. Apparently, the Iowa lottery filed motions to dismiss the case based on several legal theories, namely that they are legally shielded and that Dawson's injuries were too speculative.

legally shielded ; That seems to be the tactic pulled in the Colorado case against Amir.

Thing is since a few States participated in the... [ More ]

Comment #37

Stack47 — Sat, 29 Jun 2019 04:20:16 GMT

Purchasing the ticket himself was the first dumb thing Tipton did. And how he tried to collect the winnings was even worse. It was one red flag after another.

If I'm reading the time line correctly, a judge ruled they would hear Dawson's case before the appellate court ruled on Amir's claim meaning it's possible the court will make the same ruling. Lucky Larry didn't know at the time, but he would have a much better case had he waited for Tipton's ticket to expire before claiming his prize.... [ More ]

Comment #36

noise-gate — Fri, 28 Jun 2019 20:06:18 GMT

The more l read this article, the more l am convinced that the courts are having this case go forward simply to show the fairness in the justice system. However l come back to the point of How does the Iowa State court order lottery commissions of other States to pay Dawson? It s not as though we talking about a dead beat Dad failing to pay child support in several States.I think interstate agencies do work on those issues, but lottery payouts

Comment #35

Stack47 — Fri, 28 Jun 2019 05:37:55 GMT

There wasn't a legitimate winner

Can you show us where anybody in the lottery said the ticket that Shaw tried to validate was illegitimate? I can show you where Terry Rich said, The jackpot from the rigged 2010 draw was ultimately not claimed and distributed among the sixteen states participating in the lottery .

Instead of creating terrible straw man arguments, you really ought to do some research. On November 9, 2011, three months AFTER Dawson won, Philip Johnston to claim a ticket that... [ More ]

Comment #34

KY Floyd — Fri, 28 Jun 2019 00:35:09 GMT

And based on the rules

You've almost got it. There wasn't a legitimate winner, and when there's not a winner the rules say that the prize money rolls over.

Dawson won his jackpot and collected his prize BEFORE the Tipton ticket expired.

Does that mean that you'd understand that the money from Tipton's jackpot should have been part of some other/future prize if the lottery found out about the fraud sooner? That they found out later doesn't matter.

Comment #33

Stack47 — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 03:55:12 GMT

MUSl declared the Tipton/Hexen jackpot ticket an unclaimed prize

You didn't include the rest of my sentence: and distributed the prize money back to the participating states. Here's a hint, a sentence usually starts with a capitalized word and ends in a punctuation mark. I was stating a fact on where that prize money went.

So what? MUSL can spew as much BS as they want, but none of it changes the facts.

Like I said, it is a fact MUSL distributed the prize money back to the participat... [ More ]

Comment #32

KY Floyd — Tue, 25 Jun 2019 18:09:53 GMT

the numbers Tipton selected had the same chance of matching

The numbers that Tipton rigged had zero chance of matching the overwhelming majority of numbers picked by an RNG or by players. If Tipton hadn't eliminated the overwhelming majority of combinations he wouldn't have had any advantage because he'd have been playing against the same odds as layers who weren't cheating. Still, feel free to explain why the odds matter when the drawing was rigged.

Tipton rigged the drawing, but never... [ More ]

Comment #31

Stack47 — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 22:09:09 GMT

Not quite. The odds of Massihzadeh or anyone else playing the set of numbers that were drawn were the same as the odds of picking the set of numbers that would have won if Tipton hadn't changed the outcome.

It was almost ten years before Massihzadeh found that a Colorado Lottery EMPLOYEE rigged the drawing and suied that lottery to get the share of that jackpot the Colorado Lottery paid Tipton and his brother. It looks like your missing the point because the numbers Tipton selected had the s... [ More ]

Comment #30

noise-gate — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 20:18:05 GMT

Good read Floyd- however l still think that once they got paid out, the issue was closed according to their State lotteries. As Stack said, if Dawson prevails with his case, it opens up a Pandora s box across the nation.

What s the old rule The house always wins.

Comment #29

KY Floyd — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 17:03:22 GMT

I can't see the State Supreme court telling the lower courts that they were in error with their decisions.

There's a reason we have higher courts to appeal to. Courts aren't reluctant to overturn cases when lower courts have made incorrect rulings on the law, so it depends on the arguments made by Massihzadeh's lawyers. If they didn't argue that the contract should be invalidated then the court wasn't considering that when it issued the ruling. OTOH, if his attorneys argued that the contract... [ More ]

Comment #28

MillionsWanted — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 00:06:59 GMT

He wouldn't have won at all if it wasn't for Eddie Tipton.

Comment #27

Bleudog101 — Sun, 23 Jun 2019 15:59:48 GMT

Off subject, but congratulations to the thousands of NC lottery players who played quads (zero) last night. $7.8 million is the payout.

Comment #26

noise-gate — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 22:22:06 GMT

Dawson has no proof that the State knew that Tipton had rigged the game. He accepted his check l think as far as the lottery is concerned, he got paid. For a State lottery to willingly allow a game to continue knowing full well it's been tainted with, is a crime.

I also think that there is no way that other States that participated in that particular game are going to pony up the money that larry feels should rightly be coming to him. He can try, but..

Comment #25

Stack47 — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 21:14:26 GMT

On May 25, 2013 there were three tickets winning a $50 million jackpot, but one of the tickets went unclaimed. On June 29, 2011 there was one winning ticket purchased in Georgia that when unclaimed too.

Amir's case seemed stronger because the two other tickets were purchased knowing that Tipton rigged the drawing. But the court rule the lottery was protected against any liability after the payment of any winnings.

Dawson's case is similar to the unclaimed PB ticket from 2011 in that Daws... [ More ]

Comment #24

zephbe — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 20:14:45 GMT

He won what he won 14 years ago. He could have used some of that money to win $4 million by now like some repeat lottery winners have done. Did he squander it? Or quit playing any other lottery games? How much is he paying his lawyers

Comment #23

Stack47 — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 19:45:19 GMT

At best, ten years later they found out the drawing was rigged, but it obviously didn't prevent Amir purchasing a ticket with the winning numbers.

Comment #22

Stack47 — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 19:33:08 GMT

If you read more you'll find a bunch of places that say exactly that.

If Tipton created a false set of numbers , how was it possible that Amir Massihzadeh matched Tipton's numbers and was paid his portion of the jackpot?

and it changed the results from what they would have been if they had been generated from the random seed.

The odds of Amir matching Tipton's numbers were exactly the same as his odds against matching the numbers of any other drawing. And while it's true Tipton creat... [ More ]

Comment #21

noise-gate — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 17:12:50 GMT

Frankly l think Amir's situation is over done with Floyd. I can't see the State Supreme court telling the lower courts that they were in error with their decisions. I think Amir played his hand lost, such is life.

With Dawson, it is different, which is why l posted his case may end up the same. After all, the unclaimed prize money was distributed back to the other States. How does one go about telling those States to send the money back to Lucky Larry, who orders them, Dawson's attorneys... [ More ]

Comment #20

Artist77 — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 15:55:10 GMT

If the state lottery considered the numbers fraudulent, then they should not have paid any claims. However, since they did pay a claim and determined the other claims were tainted, then the other claimant deserved all the money. The lottery never said the drawn numbers were invalid. I am hoping for a successful appeal here.

Comment #19

KY Floyd — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 14:54:24 GMT

no where does it says the program he installed in any way, shape or form created a false set of numbers.

If you read more you'll find a bunch of places that say exactly that. The reason that Tipton knew what numbers might be drawn is that he redirected the RNG from it's usual operation on those dates. Instead of using a random seed to generate random results his code swapped in his own seed. That did two things. It let him narrow the possible results from several million to a couple of hundr... [ More ]

Comment #18

hlamb — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 06:31:39 GMT

I disagree with you KY Floyd. What we do know is that Tipton uploaded a program to the system which allowed him to determine the numbers on a certain day, but no where does it says the program he installed in any way, shape or form created a false set of numbers. It just says he knew what numbers were coming on a set date.

Comment #17

flipper1028 — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 03:17:32 GMT

This is crazy. The supposed contract was signed under fraudulent conditions at no fault of the individual and he should not have to suffer from it.

Comment #16

Stack47 — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 01:48:35 GMT

The effect was exactly the same as any legitimate drawing; the numbers on the ticket had to match all the drawing numbers to win the jackpot. And the difference in that drawing was the other two ticket holders knew the outcome before the drawing.

officials determined the other two winning tickets that shared the same numbers as Massihzadeh's were fraudulent.

That may be the final outcome, but that wasn't true the day Massihzadeh signed and validated his ticket. Maybe they just don't want t... [ More ]

Comment #15

Bleudog101 — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 23:19:17 GMT

Please don't make me choke laughing @ your last sentence....that was classic

Comment #14

noise-gate — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 22:47:07 GMT

l read about that situation here on LP BD, only after those CA lottery security guys were let go. Those guys had said that against their better judgment, the CA lottery paid a substantial amount to a player who did not produce a ticket. l have no idea how much that payout was for did not research the thing. What l do know is that they refused to pay a guy who could not produce the winning ticket, although they agreed that it was him purchasing the ticket after reviewing surveillance footage. Dou... [ More ]

Comment #13

Artist77 — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 22:20:03 GMT

I agree 110%. When he signed the claim forms, he did not have full knowledge. You cannot waive what you didn't know at the time nor was it forseeable.

Comment #12

Bleudog101 — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 21:39:51 GMT

noise-gate, correct me if I'm wrong. Didn't your state lottery pay out millions to someone who could not produce the winning ticket? That still irks me somewhat to this day. Not sure if it was a lawsuit or not.

Comment #11

noise-gate — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 21:10:57 GMT

Amir had better weigh his options, the longer he had these attorneys, the deeper they going to dig into his finances. The guy is 0-2, going to the State Supreme Court may not be 3rd time is a charm. Dawson and Amir s cases are different, but l still think Dawson has a semi uphill battle in getting paid out in millions more. Has anyone ever successfully sued a State lottery won? Just asking.

Comment #10

Bleudog101 — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 20:37:17 GMT

This whole thing makes me think of Rhett Butler in the end of 'Gone with the Wind'. My sentiments exactly.

Comment #9

Long Odds — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 20:33:51 GMT

I'm not a moron and I disagree with your premise that the only reason he won is because Tipton rigged the drawing. What we do know is the drawing was rigged; what we don't know is what the winning numbers would have been if it was not rigged- despite overwhelming odds against it, there is still a possibility that Massihzadeh's numbers would have been drawn on that drawing and he would have been the sole winner given the other tickets were fraudulent.

Comment #8

Stack47 — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 20:25:27 GMT

Dawson's circumstances are different

Indeed and more so because Dawson claimed and collected his prize before Tipton's ticket expired. Should make for an interesting discussion next year.

Just a thought, but maybe Tipton hoped there would be multiple winning tickets on the drawing he rigged making collecting the winnings easier for Shaw and the trust. The fact they waited until the last minute using Shaw to collect for the trust makes one wonder how many other plans on how to collect or t... [ More ]

Comment #7

Stack47 — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 20:07:35 GMT

I'm a fan of claiming anonymously and/or creating a trust, but had Clifford Shaw been allowed to collect the jackpot prize on behalf of the Hexam Investments Trust, Massihzadeh, Dawson, nor Steve Bogle would know the drawings were rigged.

Was looking at the report card in several states the only true lottery drawing they offer are multi jurisdiction games like MM and PB. The Dakotas get a B (80% true lottery) because they only have one state RNG drawn game. And there are 17 other lotteries ge... [ More ]

Comment #6

rcbbuckeye — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 18:12:28 GMT

Well, that's total BS.

Pay the man.

Comment #5

destinycreation — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 18:03:27 GMT

If the Colorado drawing could have been fraudulent in the first case, due to the fraud perpetrated by Tipton, then Massihzadeh was not necessarily entitled to win anything in the first place [b/c the winning numbers would not have been chosen but for fraud], and he should be thankful for the prize that he was allowed to claim.

Comment #4

KY Floyd — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 17:20:25 GMT

Anyone who's not a moron should understand that the only reason this guy won anything was because his numbers were fraudulently selected as the winning numbers.

That means that the court reached the reasonable decision, but they got there the wrong way. The lottery and Massihzadeh both entered into the contract believing that the drawing, and therefore the winning and distribution of the prize, was fair. As we now know that belief was a mutual mistake, unless one of the parties knew at the ti... [ More ]

Comment #3

Cruzincat — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 15:01:34 GMT

They should appeal and file charges against the lottery for perpetuating the original fraud.

Comment #2

noise-gate — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 13:07:54 GMT

Iowa's Lucky Larry Dawson's case may suffer the same fate. Both were cut checks, and both claimed they were jipped out of millions. We shall see...

Comment #1

lejardin — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 12:50:50 GMT

This is absurd. I hope the winner some way, some how prevails.

Court rejects Colorado man's claim to full $4.8M lottery jackpot he unwittingly split with scammers

Lottery Post — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 12:39:28 GMT

Even though Amir Massihzadeh of Boulder, Colorado, was the only legitimate winner of a Colorado Lotto jackpot worth $4.8 million in 2005, he's not eligible to claim the full winnings, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled in a decision released Thursday.

Massihzadeh, one of three ticket holders to win that jackpot, accepted his prize of $568,990, after taxes. But 10 years later, a criminal investigation exposed a scheme to rig lotteries across state lines, and officials determined the other two... [ More ]