APNewsBreak: US Senate Panel Demands Info in Lottery Scandal
Source: Associated Press
APNewsBreak: US Senate Panel Demands Info in Lottery Scandal
By RYAN J. FOLEY, ASSOCIATED PRESS IOWA CITY, Iowa Jun 22, 2016, 1:11 PM ET
A U.S. Senate oversight panel demanded Wednesday to know how state lotteries are increasing their security measures after an insider allegedly rigged jackpots for years to enrich himself.
Sen. John Thune, chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, said the allegations of fraud in lottery games offered for sale around the country raise serious concerns. Yet he said it's not clear what the Multi-State Lottery Association, an Iowa-based nonprofit that administers the games, is doing to address them.
In a letter to association leaders obtained by The Associated Press, Thune said his committee wants to know by July 7 what steps the group has taken to prevent additional fraud in games that rely on random number generators to pick winning combinations. The Republican from South Dakota said the committee wants the results of any internal investigation conducted into the fraud and details on the assurances the association gives customers about the integrity of games. The committee, which has subpoena power, wants a briefing by July 15.
Investigators say the association's former security director, Eddie Tipton, installed software code that allowed him to predict winning numbers on specific days of the year. They say he then worked with associates to purchase winning tickets with those numbers and collect the prizes. A jury convicted Tipton last year of rigging a $16.5 million Hot Lotto jackpot after he was caught on security camera purchasing the winning ticket at a Des Moines gas station.
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