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Lottery scammers sentenced to prison after netting $700,000 from victimsNews Story
Over half a million dollars later, fraudsters are finally caught By Kate Northrop Two lottery scammers who defrauded elderly victims of $700,000 will be spending time behind bars in federal prison, Acting United States Attorney Richard B. Myrus announced. Jason Wedderburn, 41, and Kayan Kitson, 38, were each sentenced to two to three years in federal prison along with 3 years of federal supervised release after netting over half a million dollars from senior citizens in several sta
Nov 22, 2021, 1:32 pm - Lottery News

Eddie Tipton claims he was pressured to plead guilty in lottery rigging scandalNews Story
Convicted lottery scammer looking to reverse sentence By Kate Northrop Lottery rigging mastermind Eddie Tipton is trying to reverse is 25-year prison sentence upon claiming that he was pressured to plead guilty in court four years ago. In 2017, Eddie Tipton was sentenced to a maximum 25 years in prison for rigging multiple computerized lottery drawings in several states so he and other accomplices could collect the jackpots. In a plea deal, the former lottery security chief als
Nov 14, 2021, 5:34 pm - Lottery News

Ohio lottery winner wins $1 million but claims losses of $1 millionNews Story
Shifty player thought he could skirt the IRS By Kate Northrop An Ohio Lottery player who won $1 million is in hot water with the IRS after falsely claiming gambling losses of $1 million and wiring his winnings abroad. Mustafa Shalash, of Hillard, was charged with one count of filing a false tax return with the IRS after winning a $1 million prize and then claiming gambling losses of an equal amount. In 2015, Shalash won a $1 million prize on a single lottery ticket and received
Nov 12, 2021, 11:35 am - Lottery News

Twelve individuals and three stores indicted in Massachusetts lottery schemeNews Story
Another fraud ring is caught By Kate Northrop On Tuesday, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced that twelve individuals and three stores in the state were indicted in connection with an ongoing scheme to launder lottery winnings and thus avoid paying taxes. The Massachusetts State Lottery Commission (MSLC), in conjunction with State Police, discovered that twelve individuals conspired to evade taxes in a calculated scheme to defraud the state of taxes on lottery winnings
Oct 28, 2021, 12:42 pm - Lottery News

Massachusetts father and sons accused of defrauding Lottery of $21 millionNews Story
Statistically improbable number of wins raises red flags By Kate Northrop A Massachusetts family is accused of defrauding the Massachusetts Lottery of nearly $21 million in a tax evasion scheme that took place over the past decade. It wouldn't be farfetched to say that cashing in more than 13,000 winning lottery tickets worth almost $21 million over eight years would be statistically impossible, if not improbable. This many wins could not simply be attributed to sheer luck. A stati
Aug 25, 2021, 11:00 am - Lottery News

Lottery scammer stole nearly $1 million from one elderly womanNews Story
Crook is sentenced to nine years in federal prison By Kate Northrop On Wednesday, a scammer who stole almost $1 million from one single victim in a lottery scheme was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison. Leonard Luton, a Jamaican national living in Brooklyn, New York, scammed an elderly woman from Estes Park, Colorado of more than $970,000, according to prosecutors. Court documents show that Luton and another Jamaican national worked together in a scam to convince the woman tha
Aug 10, 2021, 5:37 pm - Lottery News

Lottery scammers steal $1.2 million from one victimNews Story
Crook receives six years in prison for crimes of conspiracy and fraud By Kate Northrop After stealing over $1 million from one single victim, the leader of a ring of Jamaican scam artists was sentenced Friday to almost six years in prison. Like any typical scammer, Stieve Fernandez, 35, spent his time deceiving vulnerable individuals and robbing elderly targets of their life savings as part of a high-functioning underground network of lottery fraudsters. Fernandez was said to h
Jul 12, 2021, 12:45 pm - Lottery News

Loto-Québec IT technician accused of stealing thousands from customer accountsNews Story
By Kate Northrop After a year-long investigation, a former employee at Loto-Qu bec was accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from customer accounts that were supposedly inactive. Martin Raymond, 37, a former systems analyst who worked at an online gambling call center at Loto-Qu bec, was accused Wednesday of stealing funds from customer accounts he deemed inactive. He stole over $20,000 (US$16,000) from about 30 customer gaming accounts in over a few months between the winter and s
Jul 10, 2021, 2:50 pm - Lottery News

Lottery scams and fake sweepstakes cost Americans $227 million in 2020News Story
Report finds that victims lost 33% more money in scams compared to 2019 By Kate Northrop A report on sweepstakes, lottery and prize scams revealed that Americans lost a whopping $227 million to con artists last year. Better Business Bureau investigator Steve Baker put out some eye-opening statistics that show a decrease in complaints but a troubling 33% increase in the amount of money lost by Americans to scammers. Kathy Chapman told CBS News the story about how her unsuspecting 84-y
Jun 14, 2021, 10:37 am - Lottery News

Pennsylvania man arrested after using scissors and glue to make winning lottery ticketsNews Story
The cut-and-paste con was caught By Kate Northrop Police arrested and jailed a Pennsylvania man on Tuesday after he was caught altering scratch-off lottery tickets to look like winners using scissors and a glue stick. Craig Marshall Stout, 45, of Jeannette tried cashing in his DIY lottery tickets at a 7-Eleven convenience store on Fosterville Road in Hempfield but failed to get away with it this time. His cut-and-paste methods had initially worked. Stout brought in three other fake t
Apr 7, 2021, 9:01 pm - Lottery News