A whole ‘lotto’ scammin’
‘Deadbeats’ busted
They’re lottery winners — and scam artists.
New Yorkers who strike it big have been using middlemen to secretly claim jackpots in the attempt to avoid paying child support, back taxes and other debts to the state — which by law are automatically taken out of their winnings, officials said.
The State Gaming Commission on Thursday announced the arrest of two individuals who took part in the scheme and agreed to cash in the winning tickets in exchange for some of the money.
Working in part with the Department of Taxation and Finance, lottery officials busted Eduardo Moran-Barrera, 63, of The Bronx, and Neil Ferguson, 50, of Manhattan, following an extensive investigation.
Under state law, anyone who owes money to the state and wins a lottery prize of $600 or more has to settle the debt before the winnings are paid.
And there was good reason for investigators to be suspicious in Moran-Barrera’s case — seeing how he allegedly claimed a total of 686 winning tickets, worth $1.48 million, between 2012 and 2016.
Ferguson, meanwhile, allegedly turned in a total of 91 winning tickets worth $273,139.
In one instance, he tried claiming a $5,000 ticket — which had the original owner’s signature hidden. The real winner allegedly owed more than $172,600 to the state, officials said.
To make matters worse, both Ferguson and Moran-Barrera — dubbed “discounters” by officials — had been taking their tickets to corrupt lottery retailers and bodegas, seven of which were busted in undercover sting operations. All but one were said to be in The Bronx. Neither Moran-Barrera nor Ferguson ever paid the required taxes to the state for any of the winnings. As a result, they were each charged with criminal tax fraud. The arrests Thursday were the first time authorities have brought charges for “discounting.”
“These arrests mark the first significant cases where, thanks to joint efforts of commission and New York state Tax & Finance investigators, we found individuals acting as ‘discounters’ to cover for others avoiding paying what’s owed and filing taxes on the winnings,” a gaming commission spokesman told The Post.
“As this partnership continues, we expect to identify more culprits in the future and clamp down on this dishonest behavior.”