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Tennessee bill advances to remove lottery winners from government assistanceNews Story
The Tennessee House on Monday passed a bill despite opposition from Democrats that, if it becomes law, would require the names of lottery winners to be cross checked with federal and state government assistance programs. Sponsored by Rep. Dan Howell, R-Georgetown, passed by a 73-21 near party-line vote on Monday night. The bill would make any lottery winner of prizes more than $5,000 ineligible for government assistance. Howell said federal law, which has a lower prize threshold, requires
Feb 28, 2017, 3:52 pm - Lottery News

Iowa Supreme Court hears lottery rigging caseNews Story
The Iowa Supreme Court heard arguments Monday on whether purely circumstantial evidence was enough to convict a former lottery employee of rigging Iowa's Hot Lotto game to win a $16.5 million jackpot. Eddie Tipton was convicted of tampering with Iowa's Hot Lotto game and attempting to cash a ticket in early 2015, but an appeals court reversed his conviction on the charge of attempting to redeem the lottery ticket, finding it was barred by the three-year statute of limitations. The Iowa Sup
Feb 14, 2017, 4:47 pm - Lottery News

Texas man pleads guilty to fraud in lottery scandal caseNews Story
A Texas businessman has pleaded guilty to fraud and admitted to helping lottery computer technician Eddie Tipton cash jackpots in a multi-state number-fixing scheme that netted $2 million. Robert Rhodes pleaded guilty in a Des Moines courtroom Monday. Iowa prosecutors will seek two years of probation. Rhodes says he helped Tipton try to cash a $16.5 million 2010 Iowa Hot Lotto ticket but suspicious officials never paid. Rhodes agreed to testify against Tipton and his brother, Tommy Tipt
Jan 11, 2017, 4:18 pm - Lottery News

Former MUSL official received severance amid lottery jackpot scandalNews Story
A prominent lottery official who was stripped of power after a subordinate allegedly carried out a prolonged jackpot-rigging scheme received a $284,000 severance payment, a recent tax filing shows. The Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) made the payment to its longtime executive director Chuck Strutt as part of a voluntary termination agreement signed March 31, according to its 2016 tax return. The filing, released by the group in response to a request by The AP, also reveals that its leg
Jan 10, 2017, 10:04 pm - Lottery News

Man files lawsuit over rigged lottery jackpotsNews Story
Hopes to achieve class action certification Hundreds of thousands of lottery players who were allegedly cheated by an insider's long-running scheme to rig jackpots should be reimbursed for their losing tickets, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday that seeks class action certification. Lawyers filed the consumer fraud case against the Multi-State Lottery Association, the Iowa-based nonprofit that helps administer games that are offered by state lotteries. It alleges the association faile
Jan 4, 2017, 8:56 pm - Lottery News

Accused lottery rigger Eddie Tipton facing new Wisconsin chargesNews Story
A former Iowa lottery security official accused of rigging drawings to win prize money in several states is facing new felony charges in Wisconsin. A prosecutor in the Wisconsin Department of Justice filed a total of six charges against Eddie Tipton on Thursday, including one count of racketeering, a theft by fraud charge and four computers crimes charges. The charges stem from a suspect December 2007 Megabucks drawing in Wisconsin that allegedly won Tipton and a business associate a prize wo
Dec 22, 2016, 9:41 pm - Lottery News

Alleged lottery scandal conspirator to enter new pleaNews Story
A Texas businessman charged in Iowa's lottery rigging investigation is scheduled to enter a new plea often a signal that a plea agreement has been reached with prosecutors. Robert Clark Rhodes pleaded not guilty in May to a felony charge of ongoing criminal conduct stemming from his alleged participation in a 2011 scheme to cash in on a Hot Lotto ticket worth more than $14 million. Rhodes, 48, reportedly is a close friend to Eddie Tipton, a former security official at the Urbandale-based Mult
Nov 14, 2016, 8:35 pm - Lottery News

Alleged Jamaican lottery scam kingpin arrested in KingstonNews Story
A man accused of spearheading a lottery scam that bilked at least 70 mostly elderly U.S. residents out of millions of dollars has been arrested in Jamaica, authorities said Monday. Lavrick Willocks, 27, was taken into custody Saturday after he was found hiding in a garden at a Kingston hotel, according to a news release from the Jamaica Constabulary Force, and a woman who tried to help him escape also was arrested. Willocks faces numerous charges in U.S. federal court, including conspiracy
Nov 8, 2016, 8:11 am - Lottery News

Lottery supplier defends role in CT Lottery scandalNews Story
Scientific Games, the international gambling-games giant, is defending what appears to be a year-long cascade of glitches and failed oversight that led to an insider hacking scandal and the shutdown of the Connecticut Lottery's popular 5 Card Cash game. Mollie Cole, director of communications for the Las Vegas-based Scientific Games, says that equipment for the game performed to the Connecticut Lottery Corporation's (CLC) standards. The hardware and software provided to CLC for the 5 Card
Nov 1, 2016, 12:32 pm - Lottery News

UPS worker busts up lottery scamNews Story
An alert New York UPS employee is credited with saving an elderly Iowa woman from losing thousands of dollars in cash. The worker called police on Tuesday when he felt something wasn't right about a package that had been delivered to the Union Road store. An investigation showed the box contained $8,300 and was sent from an 81-year-old Iowa woman. The woman got a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS and was told she needed to send the money to process a cash prize she had won i
Oct 27, 2016, 8:57 pm - Lottery News