Lottery fraudsters set to repay $3m
MADISON, Wis. – A lottery computer programmer will tell investigators how he was able to use his position to rig state jackpots for years and he and his brother will repay $3 million (R38.5m) in prizes they improperly claimed, under a plea agreement released yesterday.
Prosecutors will seek a 25year prison sentence for former Multi-State Lottery Association security director Eddie Tipton, the mastermind of a scheme that rocked the lottery industry. His brother, former Texas judge Tommy Tipton, is expected to face 75 days in jail.
Wisconsin prosecutors released the agreement yesterday after Eddie Tipton pleaded guilty to theft and computer crime charges in Madison. The plea was a surprise for Tipton, who had insisted on his innocence for twoand-a-half years and faces a trial in Iowa next month. The agreement calls for Tipton to plead guilty to criminal conduct in Iowa, and to confess to a civil judgment in Kansas.
“Mr. Tipton’s actions de- frauding the lottery were a gross violation of the public’s trust and confidence,” said Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, praising investigators for “their efforts to find truth and seek justice”.
In his job, Tipton wrote and installed code for software that picked random numbers for games sold by its member lotteries. Investigators say Tipton designed his code so that on three days of the year, he could predict numbers in some games. – ANA-AP