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Longtime Mass Lottery employee fired for allegedly cashing unsold winning scratch ticketsNews Story
A longtime sales supervisor for the Massachusetts State Lottery was fired Tuesday after he was seen cashing winning instant tickets, a state official said, sparking fear that the lottery's supposedly strict security protocols may have been violated. David Cannistraro, a $100,000-a-year employee who had worked for the lottery since 2002, was first placed on paid administrative leave in June after another lottery employee saw him cashing tickets at a store on Cape Cod, said Chandra Allard, chie
Aug 23, 2019, 9:26 am - Lottery News

Federal authorities investigating illegal NJ 'lottery' pool, sources sayNews Story
Multiple people, including one county employee, have been called to testify in a federal probe into an alleged illegal lottery contest that hundreds of Hudson County employees pay a $20 fee to enter, multiple sources told The Jersey Journal. The feds are looking into whether the organizers of the game, based on numbers drawn in the state lottery's official Pick 6, are taking a cut of the total pool money. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark did not return a call for commen
Jul 25, 2019, 7:35 pm - Lottery News

Lottery losers could get paid after lottery scam lawsuit settles for $4.3 millionNews Story
A class-action lawsuit to benefit potentially millions of owners of losing tickets linked to the largest lottery scam in U.S. history has been settled for $4.3 million, according to a statement sent by an attorney in the case. The settlement will refund the cost of tickets purchased in nine specific drawings dates for games sold in 33 states, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., between Nov. 23, 2005 and May 23, 2013. A settlement website will be set up to assist people who s
Jul 22, 2019, 6:43 pm - Lottery News

CT Lottery quiet as uncomfortable allegations pile upNews Story
For a moment it looked like some meaningful information might be released to the public this week about the latest upheaval at the Connecticut Lottery Corp. (CLC) this time in the form of an order Monday that lottery Vice President Chelsea Turner be placed on an indefinite leave, six days after disclosing in sworn testimony that she contacted the FBI in about 2014 with suspicions of wrongdoing by a superior. But it hasn't turned out that way. The CLC's board of directors scheduled a specia
Jul 19, 2019, 8:22 am - Lottery News

Corrections officer charged with forging lottery ticket worth $20,000News Story
An Illinois correctional officer has been charged with forging a lottery ticket worth tens of thousands of dollars. Darrell Barry, 46, is charged in Cook County with a felony count of fraud and a felony count of violation of Illinois lottery law, Illinois State Police said in a statement. Barry turned himself into the custody of state police on July 12 at the Chicago Police District 1 headquarters, 1718 S. State St., state police said. He allegedly attempted to cash an altered Illinois
Jul 19, 2019, 8:10 am - Lottery News

Key player in Jamaican lottery scam sentenced to 4 yearsNews Story
A federal judge in North Dakota on Wednesday sentenced a Rhode Island woman to four years in prison for funneling lottery scam money between the U.S. and Jamaica, prompting a prosecutor to question the ruling. Melinda Bulgin, 29, of Providence, received a sentence that was 10 years less than prosecutors had sought. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland said Bulgin's role in the scam was not on the level of others who received lesser sentences than the 14 years requested by prosecutors, The Bi
Jul 12, 2019, 8:46 pm - Lottery News

Details emerge about CT Lottery CEO secretly recording board chairman in 2014News Story
More 'dirty laundry' revealed by botched raffle draw investigation Connecticut Lottery Corp. Vice President Chelsea Turner testified Tuesday that around 2014, she and then-lottery CEO Anne Noble had such suspicions about Frank Farricker, then chairman of the lottery's governing board, that she contacted an agent she knew in the FBI which then had Noble record Farricker secretly in at least one meeting. The small recording device was concealed inside an eyeglass case, Turner testified under
Jul 12, 2019, 7:50 am - Lottery News

California man charged with stealing roommate's $10 million lottery ticket released from custodyNews Story
A 35-year-old Vacaville, California, man who police say stole his roommate's lottery ticket worth $10 million late last year has been released from custody. Court and Solano County Jail records on Friday indicated only that Adul Saosongyang had been relegated to a local commitment under the state Penal Code, but the status of his case remains unclear. Judge Carlos R. Gutierrez had scheduled a jury trial for 9 a.m. June 26 but clerks with the Solano County Sheriff's Office told The Reporter
Jul 8, 2019, 6:02 pm - Lottery News

Court rejects Colorado man's claim to full $4.8M lottery jackpot he unwittingly split with scammersNews Story
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
Jun 21, 2019, 8:39 am - Lottery News

Former tribal lobbyist named as new California Lottery directorNews Story
California Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Alva Vernon Johnson to take over the the state's lottery Monday, after former director Hugo Lopez stepped down Friday amid investigations. Johnson, a former tribal lobbyist, takes over a department that has been been under scrutiny from the Department of Justice and the State Controller's Office since August, when anonymous employees sent a letter to former Gov. Jerry Brown alleging misconduct among senior executives at sales conferences. Johnson lobb
Jun 11, 2019, 8:40 am - Lottery News