Officials Warn of Lottery Jackpot Scheme
Officials in California are warning Latin Americans about a possible scam involving a supposed lottery winner that could be targeting them. In mid-June an 85-year-old was the first of five people to fall victim to the scheme.
The key culprit was a woman who claimed she won $180,000 in the state lottery, but couldn't collect her jackpot because of her immigration status. With an accomplice, she persuaded the victim to withdraw $25,000 from his bank and give her the cash supposedly to pay taxes on her prize.
But instead of getting a promised share of the winnings, the man was left without his money and too embarrassed to quickly report the crime. Since June, the scam has been pulled at least five times in Sacramento, Woodland, Vallejo and Vacaville, according to police reports submitted to the California Lottery. All the victims and con artists were Latinos, lottery officials said.
In response, the California Lottery launched an anti-fraud public awareness campaign aimed at the state's Spanish-speaking community this week.
Computer Glitch Wreaks Havoc on Lottery Action in Louisiana
A computer error caused some television stations in Louisiana to broadcast the wrong Pick 4 numbers for the Louisiana Lottery's Tuesday night drawing. A live relay transmission from Louisiana Public Broadcasting to several broadcasters inadvertently transmitted the numbers 0-0-0-0 instead of the winning numbers, which were 1-3-7-9.
Lottery officials said 800 Pick 4 tickets were sold with the numbers 0-0-0-0.
"Due to LPB's transition to a new automated system in our control room, the computer defaulted to zeros instead of reporting the actual numbers," said Beth Courtney, executive director for LPB. "We sincerely regret that this error happened."
LPB is under contract to transmit the winning numbers in a satellite feed to the TV stations.
Japan expands lottery offerings
Convenience stores in Japan will begin selling soccer lottery tickets this week.
The Japan Athletic and School Health Center lottery organization introduced the new soccer lottery ticket "Toto Goal" last spring.
Lottery officials hope the expansion into convenience stores will halt the decline in "Toto," the original soccer lottery game.
Italian Group Robbed While Divvying up Lottery Winnings
An Italian Lottery syndicate won and lost a fortune when members were robbed at gunpoint as they divided up their $47,000 winnings.
Five masked gunmen burst into the celebration party at a social club as the money was being handed out in envelopes and grabbed the cash before escaping in a waiting car. Syndicate organizer Vincenzo Paviglianiti, 43, told the Italian Press how the event unfolded.
"We were just about to start handing out the money when five men burst in wearing masks," he said. "At first everyone laughed because they thought it was part of the party but then they started shouting and telling everyone to get on the floor and not to move. It was only after one of them fired a shot into the air that everyone realized it wasn't a joke. They took all the money but at least no one was hurt. We shall have to just try again."
Police said the 40-person syndicate might have been the victim of its own misfortune after advertising the party on posters at Reggio Calabria in southern Italy.
Alaska Looking to Expand Gambling
Legislatures in Alaska are close to passing a bill that would expand gambling in the state. Lawmakers and state officials have proposals for video gambling machines and a lottery, both to help ease the state's budget problems. There's also talk about legalizing off-track betting parlors.
The Senate Labor and Commerce Committee is talking about holding a hearing on gaming issues within in the next couple of months, in advance of the January start of the legislative session.
But Sen. Gary Wilken, R-Fairbanks, said there are complications, including philosophical objections in the Legislature to gambling. Wilken, co-chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, said he's reluctant to rush into an expansion of gambling in Alaska.
The idea of expanding gambling in Alaska has passionate opponents both in and out of the Legislature. They blocked gambling plans in the last legislative session and are vowing to fight even harder this time around.
Software Error Shuts Down Oregon Lottery
Lottery officials in Oregon have fixed a software glitch that caused retail lottery terminals and video poker machines across the state to shut down for two days over the weekend.
Lottery Director Brenda Rocklin said the terminals had problems Friday morning after officials started installing software for a new sports betting game. At one point, she said, the lottery had to shut down its 2,700 retail terminals and 9,500 video poker games and restart the entire system.
Problems continued throughout Friday and Saturday, affecting several hundred machines, Rocklin said. By Saturday afternoon, she said, about 30 machines still had problems.
Rocklin said it's difficult to tell whether the problems affected sales for Saturday's $140 million Powerball jackpot.
Powerball Winner Drugged at Strip Club
The manager of a strip club and his girlfriend were arrested last month for allegedly drugging a Powerball jackpot winner and stealing $545,000 of his money.
Authorities said Jeffrey Caplinger and Misty Arnold drugged Jack Whittaker with an unidentified substance before Caplinger took the money from Whittaker's vehicle as it idled outside the club, the Pink Pony.
Caplinger and Arnold are accused of hatching the alleged scheme after Arnold saw the multimillionaire retrieve cash from the briefcase earlier in the night.
Caplinger allegedly broke a window in his own car and took some compact discs and a CD player to cover up the robbery. He then allegedly dumped the briefcase and other items behind a trash bin and went back into the club.
Tennessee and Georgia Contemplating Partnership
As Tennessee officials consider a lottery partnership with Georgia, lottery observers warn that similar joint ventures have had their problems.
Tensions simmer within a consortium of western Canadian provinces operating a lottery together. Three New England states are starting to go their separate ways as well. And South Carolina took only a few days before turning down Georgia's offer to join forces.
By the end of the week, the Tennessee Education Lottery Corp. is expected to announce whether it will ally itself with Georgia, which is considered an industry leader.
A consultant hired by Tennessee's lottery board projected the Georgia deal would yield up to $248 million extra for college scholarships in Tennessee. But some fear the joint venture would be challenged in court by lottery vendors shut out of a chance to vie for part of the estimated $873 million in annual revenue the Tennessee lottery is expected to produce.
A legal challenge could delay the start of the lottery and cost the state millions.