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Investigation finds lottery scamming Tipton brothers have repaid virtually nothingNews Story
By Jason Clayworth and Rachel Denny Clow Two brothers who spearheaded the biggest lottery scam in U.S. history have repaid less than $1,400 in restitution despite owning property worth nearly $2 million, a Des Moines Register and Corpus Christi Caller Times investigation has found. Between them, Eddie and Tommy Tipton have admitted rigging winning drawings in at least five states, including Iowa, worth a combined $24 million. But they have barely made a dent in the more than $2.4 millio
Dec 27, 2018, 8:52 am - Todd - Lottery News

Lottery rigger Eddie Tipton released on paroleNews Story
Final decision after back-and-forth fate of convicted former MUSL Security Director By Kate Northrop Convicted lottery rigger Eddie Tipton was released from prison on Friday following a series of events that had his freedom in limbo. According to the Iowa Department of Corrections online prison records, Eddie Tipton, 59, was released from prison in Clarinda, Iowa on parole. Tipton changed lottery history forever when he was sentenced to the maximum 25 years in prison for rigging
Jul 21, 2022, 7:45 am - Todd - 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 - Todd - Lottery News

Lawyers drop request for author's lottery scandal book notesNews Story
Lawyers reversed course on Tuesday and dropped a subpoena in which they had ordered an Iowa journalist to turn over notes related to his book about a lottery industry insider who rigged jackpots in several states. The withdrawal of the subpoena for journalist Perry Beeman's notes came hours after The Associated Press reported that it had been issued and sought materials that were likely protected by Iowa's reporter privilege law. Beeman co-wrote a recent book, The $80 billion Gamble, with
Aug 28, 2019, 10:04 am - Todd - Lottery News

Journalist faces subpoena in lawsuit over lottery scandalNews Story
An Iowa journalist who wrote a book about the lottery insider who rigged jackpots in several states has been subpoenaed to turn over notes related to his reporting. Perry Beeman received the subpoena last week from lawyers for Larry Dawson, an Iowa jackpot winner who contends that the rigging reduced his prize by millions of dollars. Beeman co-wrote the recent book The $80 billion Gamble with former Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich. It tells the story of how now-imprisoned lottery security cont
Aug 28, 2019, 9:50 am - Todd - Lottery News

Court rejects Colorado man's claim to full $4.8M lottery jackpot he unwittingly split with scammersNews Story
Even though Amir Massihzadeh of Boulder, Colorado, was the only legitimate winner of a Colorado Lotto jackpot worth $4.8 million in 2005, he's not eligible to claim the full winnings, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled in a decision released Thursday. Massihzadeh, one of three ticket holders to win that jackpot, accepted his prize of $568,990, after taxes. But 10 years later, a criminal investigation exposed a scheme to rig lotteries across state lines, and officials determined the other two
Jun 21, 2019, 8:39 am - Todd - 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 - Todd - Lottery News

FBI missed rigged jackpot in 2006 before lottery scheme grewNews Story
Investigators were suspicious in 2006 when they heard that a rural Texas judge was trying to exchange $450,000 in consecutively marked bills. But Tommy Tipton, a Fayette County magistrate, told the FBI that his actions were innocent, if odd: He won the Colorado lottery but couldn't tell his wife because gambling was against their Christian faith. The FBI accepted the story and dropped its inquiry of Tipton, who soon bought a new truck and more property around the town of Flatonia, 110 miles (
Jun 19, 2017, 8:51 am - Todd - Lottery News

Prosecutors say 2 more men may be linked to lottery riggingsNews Story
Prosecutors in the case of a former lottery insider convicted last year in a national Hot Lotto jackpot-rigging scandal are seeking to subpoena records from two attorneys they believe could be tied to the plot. Documents filed on Tuesday by the lead prosecutor in the case, Assistant Iowa Attorney General Rob Sand, seek to subpoena records from Texas attorneys J. Thad Whisenant and Luis Vallejo. Authorities assert that immediately after investigators attempted to interview Whisenant about t
Aug 24, 2016, 6:21 pm - Todd - Lottery News

Iowa court reverses part of Tipton's lottery fraud convictionNews Story
An Iowa appeals court on Wednesday upheld a former lottery employee's conviction for rigging the computer system to generate the winning ticket in a $16 million jackpot, but reversed a conviction for attempting to cash in on the ticket. The conviction stems from Eddie Tipton's work for the Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association, or MSLA, which produces computers that generate random numbers for lotteries in multiple states. As an employee of the association, Tipton was barred from playing
Jul 28, 2016, 8:23 am - Todd - Lottery News