Canadian lottery ticket seller jailed for fraud

Ontario media reports this week detailed lottery frauds carried out by a family which netted them Cdn$ 12.5 million, but ultimately resulted in hefty jail sentences.

Store owner Jun-Chul Chung was sentenced to seven years imprisonment as the main accused, while his daughter Kathleen received a four-year sentence, and son Kenneth Chung was sentenced to 10 months.

The case dates back as far as 2003 and involved the family misappropriating free lottery tickets won by depositing punters and using them as their own, In at least one case one of the stolen tickets delivered a jackpot, which the family illegally cashed and enjoyed through luxury cars and houses.

The fraud was not uncovered until 2010, when the lottery launched an intensive investigation following allegations of a significant number of “insider” jackpot wins. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation subsequently tracked down the rightful owners of the winning tickets and paid them nearly Cdn $15 million, to account for interest.

The lottery agency also launched a civil lawsuit against the Chungs in an attempt to recover the money, and changed its rules to prevent similar frauds by forcing retailers to return lottery tickets to their owners after validating them.

The family’s legal representative told reporters that the Chungs intend to appeal their conviction.