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Iowa man accused of lottery fraud for cashing ticket on friend's behalfNews Story
Friend of lottery winner pleads not guilty By Kate Northrop An associate of a lottery winner pleaded not guilty to lottery fraud after being accused of falsely cashing in a $50,000 winning scratch-off ticket. The Fort Dodge man was charged with one count of lottery fraud, a Class D felony classified as forgery or theft of a ticket, for turning in a winning lottery ticket that reportedly did not belong to him. Skyler Sturgis Hay, 29, allegedly committed the offense in 2018 when he vis
Mar 31, 2021, 2:14 pm - Lottery News

Ohio man accused of killing lottery winner found not guiltyNews Story
Identity of true murderer still a mystery two years after the deadly encounter By Kate Northrop A jury's decision to acquit a former suspect of the murder of a player who had just won $50,000 from a scratch-off lottery ticket was made public yesterday. Michael Ward Jr., 19, was found not guilty of the murder of his cousin Isaac Carson Jr., a father of two, a barber who worked at Professional Cutters in Euclid, and an aspiring R B singer who participated in local American Idol auditions.
Oct 20, 2020, 1:51 pm - Lottery News

PA man ordered to give former girlfriend half of $100,000 lottery prizeNews Story
He broke up with her a week after winning By Kate Northrop A Pennsylvania Superior Court panel ruled on Friday that a man who split from his long-time girlfriend one week after winning $100,000 from a scratch-off lottery ticket must give her half the winnings. During a period of attempted reconciliation in February 2018, Jeffrey Jones and Ruthann Colachino were ecstatic to win a $100,000 prize from the Bingo Squared scratch-off game. The money used to buy the winning ticket came from
Oct 12, 2020, 12:30 pm - Lottery News

Lottery scammer who stole thousands from elderly women pleads guiltyNews Story
Exposed fraud ring defrauded 16 known victims in a two and a half-year conspiracy By Kate Northrop A Colombian woman who helped a fraud ring execute lottery scams that systematically targeted grandmothers was found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Tuesday, Luisa Camargo, 39, was sentenced to nine months in jail (that she already served) and two years on supervised release. After joining the fraud ring and causing thousands of dollars in losses, she alone will pay $38,069 in re
Jun 24, 2020, 7:48 am - Lottery News

Wisconsin woman receives probation for stealing and cashing $25,000 lottery ticketNews Story
Former convenience store clerk gets a total of three years' probation for theft and fraud By Kate Northrop Jessica N. Surratt, 32, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin was sentenced on Tuesday to two years of probation after pleading guilty to fraud for cashing a winning ticket worth $25,000. This is in addition to the one year of probation she was initially handed for the theft of tickets back in 2018. On June 16, 2018, Surratt stole nine scratch-off lottery tickets from the Portage Market Bask
May 28, 2020, 8:32 am - Lottery News

Oklahoma tribe says state lottery 'second chance' game violates compactsNews Story
Oklahoma's expansion of the lottery and other forms of gaming violates the compacts tribes have with the state, the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes said in a court brief filed Tuesday. Tribes sued Gov. Kevin Stitt on Dec. 31, alleging the gaming compacts automatically renewed. A federal judge has ordered mediation over whether the compacts expired Jan. 1, as Stitt believes, and that continued operation of Class III gaming is now illegal. The governor is seeking to increase the exclusivity fe
Mar 18, 2020, 8:26 pm - Lottery News

California man pleads guilty to Latina grandmothers lottery scamNews Story
A Los Angeles man pleaded guilty Monday to a federal charge for targeting Latina grandmothers in Long Beach and throughout Southern California in a scam involving a fake winning lottery ticket. Tito Lozada, 50, faces sentencing May 11 on a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Two of three additional defendants previously pleaded guilty to the same charge and are awaiting sentencing in Los Angeles federal court. L
Feb 25, 2020, 1:39 pm - Lottery News

UK National Lottery hacker jailed for nine monthsNews Story
A cyber-criminal has been jailed for nine months for committing offenses against the United Kingdom National Lottery. Following a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation, Anwar Batson, 29, of Notting Hill, London, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on 10 January. He admitted four offenses under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and one fraud charge. The NCA was notified of the attack against National Lottery accounts in November 2016. The customer database affected contained around nine m
Jan 13, 2020, 10:22 am - Lottery News

Few filing claims in $4.3 million lottery scam settlement; deadline Jan. 7News Story
Victims of the largest lottery scam in U.S. history are expected to pocket only a small fraction of a $4.3 million settlement because of a lack of applicants laying claim to the money, court records show. But it's not too late. Claims can be made online through Jan. 7 and those for $10 or less require no proof of purchase. Larger ones require receipts dating back as far as 14 years. If you're claiming more than $10 they sure made it difficult, said Craig Johnson, a Manson resident w
Jan 2, 2020, 12:09 pm - Lottery News

Judge rules Massachusetts Lottery can suspend high-frequency winnersNews Story
The Massachusetts Lottery last week won a court fight over their efforts to fight suspected fraud. The judge's decision lets the Lottery suspend a family of players who have cashed thousands of winning tickets. The Lottery says Ali Jaafar and his two sons are what they call high-frequency winners people believed to be cashing tickets actually bought by others. The Lottery has long suspected that high-frequency winners are part of money laundering schemes. (See Some lottery winning strea
Nov 6, 2019, 5:54 pm - Lottery News