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90-year-old ND woman lost $400K to Jamaican lottery scam — but she was paid back just $287News Story
Life savings gone for good A 90-year-old North Dakota woman who was robbed of her life savings by a Jamaican lottery scam says she has been paid back only $287 of the $400,000 she's owed. Edna Schmeets of Harvey, a small central North Dakota town about 77 miles northeast of Bismarck, was the victim whose case launched what became the first large-scale Jamaican lottery scam case prosecuted in the U.S. All 31 defendants have been prosecuted, including 14 Jamaican nationals who were extradite
Nov 11, 2019, 12:29 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

The local TV star who rigged the lotteryNews Story
Shortly after 7pm on April 24th, 1980, millions of Pennsylvanians watched intently as a third and final ping-pong ball shot up the tube of a machine on live television. And there you have it, exclaimed the station's beloved announcer, Nick Perry. Today's Pennsylvania lottery daily number: 6-6-6! As the cheesy music faded and the lights dimmed, Perry implored lucky ticket holders at home to claim their prizes: If you've got it, come and get it! What the public didn't know was that Per
Oct 18, 2019, 12:12 pm - Lottery News

Trio busted in lottery ticket, cigarette theft ringNews Story
Includes video report Three people are charged in an elaborate theft ring involving tens of thousands of dollars worth of lottery tickets and cigarettes. Police say the thieves broke into businesses across the city, smashing their way inside with sledgehammers. For three weeks, investigators say Domenique Jones, 22, April McKinney, 35, and her daughter, Breana Sims, 20, targeted one business after another. The burglary spree began in early September at a Valero gas station on Prescot
Sep 30, 2019, 8:00 am - Lottery News

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

Questions surround D.C. lottery and gambling contract, but high-level D.C. staffer says it's fineNews Story
Several D.C. Council members are asking whether the $215 million lottery and sports gambling contract the council approved this summer fulfills local business subcontracting requirements. This week, they got an answer from a high-level District staffer: Everything's fine. Yes, the contract is compliant with D.C. law requiring companies with large public contracts to subcontract some of the work to local businesses, Kristi Whitfield, director of the department responsible for monitoring compl
Sep 18, 2019, 9:54 am - Lottery News

What happens when Michigan lottery retailers try to game the systemNews Story
Includes video report A Detroit gas station and convenience store owner scratched hundreds of instant game tickets the Michigan Lottery sent him for sale to customers, trying to identify the winners so he could buy them himself and claim the prizes, officials say. For each package of tickets, Mubarak Morshed calculated whether the total prize money exceeded the purchase price. If not, he reported the pack of tickets missing. If yes, he purchased the tickets and sought to collect the cash,
Sep 13, 2019, 10:19 am - Lottery News

Website now accepting claims in $4.3 million lottery scam settlementNews Story
A website that was set up for people with losing tickets to seek refunds under a $4.3 million lottery scam settlement is now functioning. Since 2011, Lottery Post has been reporting on the multi-state lottery jackpot and subsequent investigation and prosecution of the rigged computerized drawing scandal. Those who wish to submit a claim can do so online at www.lotterygamesettlement.com or call 877-872-3816 for more information. A class-action lawsuit linked to the largest lottery scam in U
Sep 9, 2019, 9:39 pm - Lottery News

Michigan lottery winners charged in string of robberiesNews Story
Stephanie Harvell's luck seemed to have dried up before she bought a scratch-off lottery ticket in early 2016. She and her husband had recently lost a car, and that same morning, they had received an eviction notice from their home in Bay City, Mich. Then, she scraped away at that ticket and realized she had won $500,000. I cried like a baby when I saw what I'd won, Harvell said, according to the Michigan Lottery, adding that she had visions of putting the cash toward a new home and a car.
Sep 4, 2019, 12:13 pm - Lottery News

The little firm that got a big chunk of D.C.'s lottery and sports gambling contract has no employeesNews Story
The Greek company Intralot, which last month received a $215 million contract to bring sports gambling to the nation's capital and to continue running its lottery, says more than half the work will go to a small D.C. firm a condition that helped the gaming giant win the no-bid contract. The firm, Veterans Services Corp., will perform the ENTIRE subcontract with its own organization and resources, according to a document signed this summer by a top Intralot executive. District law requires
Sep 2, 2019, 6:36 am - Lottery News