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81-year-old Mass. man sentenced to prison for part in multimillion-dollar lottery ticket scamNews Story
An 81-year-old man from Lynn, Massachusetts, was sentenced Monday to two months in prison for his part in a multimillion-dollar lottery scam, according to federal prosecutors. Clarance Jones, 81, pleaded guilty in May to conspiring to commit tax fraud and filing false tax returns. The Massachusetts U.S. Attorney's office said Jones was a part of a ten-percenting scheme in which he bought millions of dollars of winning Massachusetts state lottery tickets at a discount to help winners avoid
Sep 25, 2019, 7:53 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

Man who won millions from lottery during divorce case must shareNews Story
A suburban Detroit man who was in the middle of a divorce when he won more than $30 million must share the lottery windfall with his ex-wife. The Michigan appeals court says a marriage isn't over until it's over. It means Mary Beth Zelasko can keep $15 million awarded by an arbitrator, although she and Rich Zelasko had been separated for two years when he bought the Mega Millions ticket in 2013. Their divorce wasn't final until 2018. In a court filing, an attorney for Rich Zelasko said, Ri
Jun 20, 2019, 7:14 am - Lottery News

Lottery winner can seek bigger prize at trial, judge rulesNews Story
Lucky Larry may have a shot to win millions more this time from a jury. A judge has ordered a trial in a lawsuit filed by Iowa lottery winner Larry Dawson, who contends a $9 million jackpot that he won in 2011 should have been nearly three times as big. Dawson filed his lawsuit in 2016 after an investigation revealed that lottery contractor Eddie Tipton rigged the previous $16.5 million jackpot, bought the winning ticket himself and unsuccessfully worked with associates to claim it. Da
May 17, 2019, 12:01 pm - Lottery News

UK store clerk steals thousands in lottery scratch tickets, wins nothingNews Story
A debt-ridden Scottish store clerk stole 1,500 (US$2,000) worth of lottery scratch tickets from the store where he worked, and didn't win a single penny. Andrew Lochrie, 28, helped himself to rolls of the National Lottery instants games from the supermarket where he worked hoping to clear mounting debts. But over the course of his crimes, between August 1 and October 24, 2017, Lochrie won nothing which a judge told him was a lesson . Lochrie worked at the Co-op supermarket on Shore Stre
Feb 10, 2019, 8:03 am - Lottery News

Iowa lottery lawsuit granted class action, affecting 7.2 million tickets in 19 statesNews Story
By Jason Clayworth A judge has granted class-action status in a lawsuit that claims people who purchased at least 7.2 million lottery tickets in 19 states were scammed by a former national lottery IT director who worked in Iowa. Eddie Tipton, the former IT director for the Multi-State Lottery Association in Urbandale, added a secret code to random number-generating computer software in 2005 that allowed him to narrow the drawing's winning odds from as great as 5 million to 1 down to 200 to
Jan 28, 2019, 10:24 am - Lottery News

US woman convicted in Jamaican lottery scam to remain jailedNews Story
A federal judge in North Dakota on Monday ordered a Rhode Island woman convicted of funnelling lottery scam money between the US and Jamaica to remain jailed pending a February sentencing hearing, where she could face a stiffer sentence than the alleged mastermind. Her hands were all over the conspiracy that authorities said bilked at least 90 mostly elderly Americans out of more than $5.7 million, US District Judge Daniel Hovland said at the end of a contentious detention hearing in which M
Dec 5, 2018, 2:28 pm - Lottery News

Feds bust up illegal fantasy football lottery schemeNews Story
A business pairing the enormously popular fantasy football leagues with the Georgia Lottery must have looked like a money-making combination. Two eager investors thought so and forked out $500,000 in loans to the Atlanta man who hatched the idea of a fantasy football lottery league. But Timothy Cobb, a former lawyer who once worked for Turner Broadcasting System, was running a scam, according to allegations in a federal indictment unsealed this week. Cobb is no longer engaging in fantasy,
Dec 1, 2018, 8:34 am - Lottery News

British man charged with fraudulently claiming £2.5 million lottery jackpotNews Story
Faked winning ticket? A man who won 2.5 Million in the UK's National Lottery appeared in court today accused of faking the winning ticket. Edward Putman, 53, made his first appearance in the crown court following a three year police investigation. But, in a preliminary hearing, his barrister Lawrence Selby told St. Albans Crown Court that Putman would be making an application to dismiss the charge. In October, Putman appeared before magistrates to plead not guilty to fraud by false r
Nov 26, 2018, 8:33 pm - Lottery News

Last defendant in large Jamaican lottery scam convictedNews Story
A federal jury in North Dakota on Friday convicted a Rhode Island woman of helping scam elderly Americans out of millions of dollars, capping a large-scale Jamaican lottery scam case that authorities have been investigating and prosecuting for six years. Jurors found Melinda Bulgin, 28, guilty of 15 counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering, after 3 1/2 hours of deliberations over two days. Defense attorney Kevin Chapman said he likely will appeal. The Providence woman was the last
Sep 15, 2018, 8:36 pm - Lottery News