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N.J. man charged in $10K lottery scam on 84-year-old womanNews Story
A New Jersey man tricked an 84-year-old woman into handing over more than $10,000 after telling her she won a lottery, but needed to pay the taxes on the winnings in advance, authorities said. Earl Alton Smith, 40, convinced the Canandaigua, New York, resident to give him a $5,000 check and one totaling $5,500 in October, New York State Police said in a statement. Smith was arrested by Port Authority police on Wednesday at Newark Liberty International Airport as he was about to board a pl
May 1, 2018, 9:23 am - Lottery News

How a lottery jackpot winner became a bank robberNews Story
A man who once won millions of dollars in the California Lottery pleaded guilty Thursday in downtown Los Angeles to four counts of bank robbery. On Thursday, James Allen Hayes, a security guard turned overnight millionaire, stood in a Los Angeles courtroom and pleaded guilty to committing a series of bank robberies. Hayes, 55, faces up to 80 years behind bars, with sentencing set for June 7 before U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin. Hayes admitted to being the serial bank robber known
Mar 17, 2018, 9:19 am - Lottery News

Lottery scammer rigged more drawings than first thought, records showNews Story
The computer program that a former lottery security official used to rig drawings worth millions of dollars in Iowa and other states was more expansive than investigators first discovered, court records filed last week show. Eddie Tipton, a former employee of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) in Clive, wrote the code to allow him to predict the randomly drawn numbers of multimillion-dollar jackpots in as many as 17 states and claim the cash prizes. The code remained active and und
Feb 19, 2018, 6:03 pm - Lottery News

Three Ohio Lottery Commission workers fired after theft accusationsNews Story
Three Ohio Lottery Commission workers lost their jobs last week after a watchdog agency accused them of stealing nearly $3,000 in goods that belonged to the state from a Cleveland warehouse. Scott Kronik, Walter Liszniansky and Jeffrey Chapman were fired on Friday, lottery spokeswoman Danielle Frizzi Babb said. All three are scheduled to appear Feb. 28 at pre-trial hearings at Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, court records say. A grand jury on Dec. 21 handed up felony theft in offic
Jan 29, 2018, 4:45 pm - Lottery News

New Jersey store clerk accused of stealing $1M lottery ticketNews Story
A New Jersey convenience store worker stole a customer's $1 million-winning lottery ticket and tried to pass it off as his own, authorities say. Rayhan Sorwar, 36, who worked at an Edison convenience store, has been charged with theft of moveable property over $75,000, a second-degree crime; conspiracy to commit money laundering; and attempted money laundering, both first-degree crimes, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey. He was charged during a joint investigation by
Jan 26, 2018, 6:43 pm - Lottery News

Store clerk busted trying to scam undercover lottery investigatorNews Story
Do you trust your store clerk with your lottery ticket? Maybe you've won a few hundred bucks or more. Will the employee tell you or pocket the ticket while telling you it's a loser? That happened this week at a Fort Myers store, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office. A Winn-Dixie Liquors employee is accused of keeping a customer's $600 winning ticket and paying him only 5 bucks. Crystelle Yvette Baton was charged with larceny grand theft on Monday. Baton, 42, was caught becaus
Jan 24, 2018, 12:55 pm - Lottery News

Brothers admit guilt in lottery scamNews Story
Two siblings from Maryland who convinced multiple local residents to pay taxes and fees in advance of collecting on nonexistent lottery winnings entered guilty pleas Thursday in federal court. Daniel Archer, 29, and Matthew Archer, 28, each pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green to 20 counts of wire fraud. The two men accepted plea agreements in which they will pay $728,442.18 in restitution. Each count of wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, but
Jan 19, 2018, 3:06 pm - Lottery News

2 more suspects plead guilty in $5.7M Jamaican lottery scamNews Story
Two more suspects have pleaded guilty in a Jamaican lottery scam that authorities say bilked at least 90 Americans out of more than $5.7 million. O'Neil Brown and Dahlia Hunter earlier reached plea deals with prosecutors. They pleaded guilty to conspiracy in separate hearings this week. The government dropped dozens of fraud and money laundering counts. Seven other defendants have pleaded guilty in recent months, including Hunter's son, Lavrick Willocks, who authorities say masterminded th
Dec 8, 2017, 9:57 pm - Lottery News

Jamaican court goes easy on lottery scammersNews Story
There are reports of disquiet among Jamaican law enforcement officials over news that 15 men who pleaded guilty to lottery scam-related charges in the Hanover Circuit Court were sentenced to fines totaling $367,000. According to information obtained by The Gleaner-Power106 news centre, the men all pleaded guilty to possession of identity information on November 23rd and 24th. The reports indicate that seven were fined $30,000; five were fined $20,000 while two were fined $25,000. The ot
Dec 4, 2017, 8:27 am - Lottery News

Michigan Lottery cracks down on retailers who cheat customersNews Story
When a customer brought a Keno ticket to Nick's Party Stop in Clinton Township, retailer Don Kallo ran the ticket through his lottery terminal, declared it a loser and tore it in half. Kallo, the spouse of store operator Linda Kallo, then took the torn ticket a $2,517 winner to the Michigan Lottery Bureau to redeem it. Suspicious lottery officials investigated and learned Kallo hadn't purchased the ticket, as he claimed, records show. It was determined the ticket had been purchased by
Nov 17, 2017, 2:23 pm - Lottery News