USA
Te Hot Lotto Scandal Eddie Tipton former security director for the Multistate Lottery Association created a cryptic computer code that allowed him to greatly narrow the odds of selecting winning numbers in lotteries across at least five states. Tipton worked for the lottery association from 2003 until 2015 and was director of computer information security during his last two years at the association. He tampered with random number generators in computers he provided to several states by installing ‘malicious codes’ that enabled him to predict winning numbers on certain dates under certain conditions. Tipton helped write the computer code behind several US lottery games, including some of its biggest in the country. Starting in 2005, he rigged winning drawings for lotteries in
at least five states, worth a combined US$24m. Tipton, bought lottery tickets in various states, including Iowa, and selected numbers that he knew would win. Tipton then gave these tickets to third parties who agreed to cash them and split the money with him. Te whole scheme unravelled after investigators determined
Tipton had bought a winning Hot Lotto ticket with a $16.5m annuity jackpot ($10.8m cash option) that was never paid amid suspicions in Iowa. Te prize was not claimed for nearly a year until attempts were made by Tipton to claim the winnings on behalf of an anonymous off-shore trust company in Belize. Due to Iowa lottery regulations requiring that winners cannot stay anonymous, officials rejected the claim. A subsequent investigation saw surveillance footage from a
convenience store of Tipton seemingly purchasing a lottery ticket. Although Tipton was wearing a hooded top making it hard to see his face, fellow lottery workers, who had wondered for years at how he had afforded to live in a mansion,
Te whole scheme unravelled after investigators
determined Tipton had bought a winning Hot Lotto ticket with a $16.5m annuity jackpot ($10.8m cash option) that was never paid amid suspicions in
Iowa. Te prize was not claimed for nearly a year until attempts were made by Tipton to claim the winnings on behalf of an anonymous off-shore trust company in Belize.
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recognised his voice and contacted the authorities. Tis led to the arrest of Tipton on two counts of fraud for attempting to illegally participate in a lottery game as an employee of the organisation behind the draws and then claiming the prize through fraudulent means. Also involved in the scheme were his brother and former Texas justice of the peace, Tommy Tipton, and Texas businessman Robert Rhodes. Eddie Tipton was sentenced in 2017 to up to 25 years in
prison and the court told him and his brother that they would have to pay about $3m in restitution. Te sum reflects the total amount of money that Tipton, his brother, and the other man won in seven lottery winnings before they were stopped. Eddie Tipton was paroled after five years in prison in 2022 while his brother, who served a 75-day jail sentence also has a restitution order for everything he fraudulently won.
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