LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A former Arkansas Lottery security official pleaded guilty Friday to a long-running scheme in which he's accused of stealing and cashing nearly a half-million dollars' worth of scratch-off tickets.
Lottery Director Bishop Woosley said the theft by Remmele Mazyck, 34, started in 2009 when the lottery launched. It wasn't discovered until October 2012, when a clerk at a Jonesboro retailer raised questions about lottery tickets Mazyck tried to cash that were registered to a store no longer in business.
Mazyck, whose title was deputy security director, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges Friday in federal court. He will be sentenced later.
The lottery said Mazyck cashed 22,710 tickets worth about $478,000. Mazyck's lawyer, John Wesley Hall Jr., disputed that amount.
"The total amount of the scheme is $477,893. He reserves the right to litigate whether or not or what the actual loss ... is for the (Arkansas Lottery) Commission," Hall said.
Woosley questioned Mazyck on Oct. 26, and fired him three weeks later.
"His reaction was calm, denial," Woosley said.
Mazyck, who earned $76,500 last year, followed original lottery director Ernie Passailaigue from South Carolina to help launch the lottery. Woosley said he contacted the current South Carolina lottery director, who told him there was no indication that Mazyck was tied to any theft during his tenure.
Officials allege Mazyck used his own security clearance to code tickets from the lottery's warehouse as promotional giveaways. He allegedly scratched the tickets to see if they were winners, cashing those worth less than $500. Prizes of $500 or more have to be cashed at a lottery office, which would have blown the scheme, Woosley said.
"It took a lot of time," Woosley said, noting that weak internal procedures allowed the theft to continue for three years.
The original lottery law banned any employees from playing, but Woosley said the law was changed in 2011 to allow workers to collect prizes of less than $500.
As soon as Mazyck's theft was discovered, the lottery stopped issuing promotional scratch tickets, Woosley said, though other promotions are continuing.
He said the lottery is reviewing its security procedures and added that he was prohibited from publicly discussing the theft because authorities were investigating.
Losses by lottery players are used to fund college scholarships. Woosley said the lottery is insured and the ticket theft won't affect scholarships.
Woosley said he's concerned that lottery players question the integrity of the games but said they have not been compromised.
"This is a simple theft of lottery tickets," he said.
The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Money laundering carries up to 10 years in prison and also a $250,000 fine.
Hall said Mazyck, who was present at a Friday plea hearing, was released on his own recognizance. Hall said his client has moved back to South Carolina.
(Click to display full-size in gallery)
Thanks to emilyg for the tip.
Most lottery states do not allow, their employees, to purchase lottery tickets, just to avoid this type of greedy nonsense. I guess, if you can't buy them, you steal them stupid. With a salary of $76,500 per anum, you have no excuse for stooping this low, STUPID.
Another inside job on theft of Scratch tickets, similar to the one a few months ago:
https://www.lotterypost.com/news/259869
In both cases, they were lottery employees, with the privilege to change the status of scratch tickets so they could acquire them free of charge. But in this case, he was higher up the food chain, charged with lottery security, so his impact was larger and greater.
Stupid of them to think it wouldn't eventually catch up to them. And these are just the ones we hear about, the ones that got caught. But what about the ones that got away with it? Or what about an inside job even higher up, at the level of an employee of a distributor/vendor like GTECH or Scientific Games? Those would be even harder to trace.
Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse!
22k thousand tickets?? I think you may have more than a gambling problem-but then again -its fun to play when the tickets are free=no real losses
I would hope he took the scannable tickets, NOT the one he had to scratch off.
The original lottery law banned any employees from playing, but Woosley said the law was changed in 2011 to allow workers to collect prizes of less than $500.
So if an employee wins more than 500 I wonder what happens.
Security official busted by a clerk.
That's more embarrassing then the crime itself.
He gets a family member or a trusted friend to cash it in for him.
The clerk looks like a prime candidate for his old job
Good job on the clerk who raised questions about the lottery tickets that Mazyck was trying to cash in.
HAPPY SATURDAY 7/13/13
THAT NUMBER SHOULD BE GOOD 2 PLAY TODAY...;..)
Also, I wouldn't want to work for the Lottery if I couldn't play the "numbers" as everyone else does. At least they should be able to go to another store or faciltiy to play as everyone else does.
Finally, It troubles me more, that among alllll the scratchoffs he stole, none of them "paid off" that bothers me more, because there is something "fishy" about the fact, that the store didn't have any payoffs from the scratchoff
.....makes me wonder...whats up with that
$76,500 job + Reputation = Huge losses. Good luck on getting another job in that field.
From the OP:
"It wasn't discovered until October 2012, when a clerk at a Jonesboro retailer raised questions about lottery tickets Mazyck tried to cash that were registered to a store no longer in business."
This sounds like something you'd see on World's Dumbest Criminals on TruTv.
Officials allege Mazyck used his own security clearance to code tickets from the lottery's warehouse as promotional giveaways.
How does promotional giveaway work?
We've had several Scratchers promotional giveaways here in CA.
On a recent one, where they awarded hundreds of packs of 80 $5 Strike it Rich Scratchers, this lady actually nabbed a Top Prize of $250,000 in one of those giveaway packs:
http://www.calottery.com/win/winners-stories/valerie-hartzell
Coincidence???
He should have taken the advice another famous Arkansan gave to Gennifer Flowers - "Deny, Deny, Deny."
"But I did not inhale."
"I did not have sex with that woman."
"Nope, not that one either."
"And definitely not that one."
"Or that one."
"Or that one."
"Or that one."
"I had nothing to do with Whitewater either".
It worked well for him, got elected President twice.
How would a clerk at a retailer know what scratch offs are registered to which stores? Seems the lottery should have known tickets being cashed in came from a store that was closed. That makes no sense.
A retailer knows when scratch tickets are not from their store, the retailer number of the store where the tickets were sold are shown on the terminal screen.
The retailer probably didn't know the status of the other retailer. More likely, he just saw suspicious activity, like Mazyck repeatedly coming into his store and cashing large amounts of tickets that were not purchased there. He then reported this to lottery officials, who then looked up the retailer number and saw that it was a closed store.
I can tell by the specific wording of the statement that this was a likely scenario:
It wasn't discovered until October 2012, when a clerk at a Jonesboro retailer raised questions about lottery tickets Mazyck tried to cash that were registered to a store no longer in business.
Stores open and close all the time. You can continue redeeming scratch tickets typically for certain period after the end of game date, regardless of the store purchased or whether they're closed down, as long as the tickets status is active. But it was the volume of tickets which really drew the attention of investigators. In short, he made the common mistake of not spreading it around enough.
RS:
Jonesboro, AK "clerk" should get a prade
down main street in Little Rock 
!!
REWARD this "clerk" on the steps of D capital>>>$$$$$$ at least $50,000 R 10% of D $1/2 million that
was $AVED from Mazyck D security "chief thief"!!!$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
saved D Lottery MILLION'$$$$
very?ody can earn 250$+ da?ly… You can earn ?rom 6000-12000 a mont? or even more ?? you work as a ?ull t?me jo?…?t’s easy, just ?ollow ?nstruct?ons on t??s page, read ?t care?ully ?rom start to ??n?s?… ?t’s a ?lex??le jo? ?ut a good earn?ng opportun?ty.. go to t??s s?te ?ome ta? ?or more deta?l ..www.fox86.com
Great ideal. We can shred those 22k tickets, throw them out, and see who trys to glue them back together and cash them in. We can get two birds with one stone.
He should of went to different stores shades & a baseball cap to hide himself from also getting ID to. He's dumb to just to keep going to the same store. The clerk was like this guy getting to lucky lol up all night to get lucky huh ya dumb crook guilty
So what makes you think that promo that the lady is related to a scammer that works for the lottery? I remember that promo I entered a lot like I still do in the replay & I am still a 2x LOSER. I also remember when that old head won I was like this replay is a scam in its self. But yes I am still entering just entered a few right now. I always tell myself that's it I'm done with this repay ?? but I am a junkie addicted to losing I guess.
So what makes you think that promo that the lady is related to a scammer that works for the lottery? I remember that promo I entered a lot like I still do in the replay & I am still a 2x LOSER. I also remember when that old head won I was like this replay is a scam in its self. But yes I am still entering just entered a few right now. I always tell myself that's it I'm done with this repay ?? but I am a junkie addicted to losing I guess.
Do you enter the 2x Loser aka 2nd chance replay ? It's scam
Since they are prohibited to purchase the tickets where they work they'd rather steal it. How unfortunate because now he needs to be punish for his wrong actions. Hopefully this will serve as a lesson to those who wanted to take advantage of their position to do bad things.