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Few major lottery jackpot winners get chance to be anonymousNews Story
Note to the Kansas and Maryland winners of last month's $656 million lottery jackpot: Count your anonymous blessings. The states, where ticket holders claimed their $218.6 million portions in anonymity, are two of only six states that allow lottery winners' names to remain secret. Officials in states other than Kansas, Maryland, Delaware, Michigan, North Dakota and Ohio make public the names of lottery winners, with rare exceptions. Most see the identities of winners as a matter of public
Apr 23, 2012, 5:10 pm - Lottery News

Jamaican lottery scams spread despite US crackdownNews Story
The 88-year-old retired Coast Guard officer hadn't been outside the U.S. in decades. Yet phone calls started pouring in from Jamaica, dangling the prospects of huge winnings from an international lottery that he had won. There was a catch, of course. He had to send a check to pay the tax on his winnings. He wired the money to Jamaica. Soon he was ensnared in a scam that may cost him his home in an assisted living facility outside Seattle. It's been heartbreaking, said Ruth Wilson, a Seatt
Apr 19, 2012, 11:43 pm - Lottery News

Feds seize gambling site Bodog, indict founderNews Story
The sports gambling site Bodog was shut down and four Canadians indicted, including founder Calvin Ayre, for illegal gambling that generated more than $100 million in winnings, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday. The website's domain name was seized Monday and the indictments, which were returned Feb. 22, were unveiled Tuesday in Baltimore, prosecutors said. The indictments follow federal prosecutions last year of three of the biggest websites involved in online poker. More than 75 comp
Feb 29, 2012, 7:19 am - Lottery News

$14.3 million Hot Lotto prize claim withdrawnNews Story
Includes video report Someone really doesn't want to be a multimillionaire. Crawford Shaw, the enigmatic 76-year-old New York attorney who represented a trust attempting to claim a Hot Lotto jackpot worth as much as $14.3 million, abruptly withdrew any claim to the money Thursday evening. Apparently even Shaw doesn't know the identity of the person or persons behind Hexham Investments Trust, the group that sought the prize. Shaw told Iowa Lottery officials that the trust was a corporati
Jan 27, 2012, 7:16 pm - Lottery News

Ruling by Justice Dept. opens a door on online gamblingNews Story
2012 may the year of widespread Internet lottery ticket sales The Justice Department has reversed its long-held opposition to many forms of Internet gambling, removing a big legal obstacle for states that want to sanction online gambling to help fix their budget deficits. The legal opinion, issued by the department's office of legal counsel in September but made public on Friday, came in response to requests by New York and Illinois to clarify whether the Wire Act of 1961, which prohibits
Dec 25, 2011, 2:33 pm - Lottery News

Connecticut to audit lottery winners for back taxesNews Story
After successfully targeting deadbeat parents, the state of Connecticut is going after tax evaders' lottery winnings. Beginning Dec. 31, a new law will take effect requiring the Connecticut Lottery Corporation to deduct delinquent taxes, crosschecked with the Department of Revenue Services, from any claim of $5,000 or more. If someone is lucky enough to win a lottery prize and they also owe back taxes, it is reasonable to collect those taxes at that time, co-sponsor Rep. Gerald Fox, D-Sta
Dec 20, 2011, 7:42 am - Lottery News

Indiana Gov. names interim Hoosier Lottery directorNews Story
Megan Ornellas will serve as interim director of the Hoosier Lottery until a replacement can be found for Kathryn Densborn, who resigned following a flap over her lavish spending on a new headquarters. (See Indiana Lottery chief resigns after lavish office revealed, Lottery Post, Oct. 14, 2011.) Gov. Mitch Daniels' administration announced Ornellas' appointment Monday. Ornellas is the chief of staff for the Family and Social Services Administration, the state's largest agency. Ornellas wil
Oct 17, 2011, 8:54 pm - Lottery News

S.C. lottery and electronic sweepstakes on collision courseNews Story
South Carolina retailers who offer electronic sweepstakes to customers are feeling jittery. That's according to one member of the S.C. Education Lottery Oversight Committee , a panel made up of state legislators and members of the public. The question is, are electronic sweepstakes legal in South Carolina? said Alexander Shadwick, after Tuesday's meeting. They don't know if the games are legal or illegal, so the courts have to decide, he said. But it scares all the retailers.
Sep 29, 2011, 9:03 am - Lottery News

Ct. to deduct back taxes from lottery winningsNews Story
Stamford resident's idea inspired legislation Legislation (HB6270), introduced by State Representative Gerald Fox III (D-Stamford) requiring the Connecticut Lottery to deduct delinquent taxes and penalties before distributing a lottery prize of $5,000 or more to a winner, was ceremoniously signed into law Friday by Governor Dannel Malloy at the State Capitol. The new law applies to winning lottery tickets redeemed on or after January 1, 2012. There is currently about $400 million in state
Aug 15, 2011, 6:02 pm - Lottery News

Starved state budgets prompt new interest in online gamblingNews Story
The District of Columbia is not thrilled that its residents are traveling to Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to gamble in casinos. Starved for cash, like states across the country, the district wants some of the millions in revenue that gambling generates each year. So district officials want residents to gamble closer to home inside their homes, actually. Or in cafes, restaurants and bars. By year's end the district hopes to introduce an Internet gambling hub that would allow Washin
Aug 14, 2011, 5:05 pm - Lottery News