More details emerge on GBP 2.5 million UK lottery fraud
News on 24 Dec 2016
News on 24 Dec 2016
The GBP 2.5 million UK “damaged lottery ticket” fraud that has already cost operator Camelot $3 million in Gambling Commission fines (see previous report) has received more publicity as newspapers dig for information in the absence of a full explanation from the Commission and the operator.
Investigative journalists have already uncovered the identity and criminal record of the perpetrator, and the information that he was aided and abetted by an IT employee at Camelot; on Friday the Daily Mail published a detailed account of the fraud…and how the IT accomplice, who committed suicide, made it possible.
The events unfolded over several years, but the highlights of the article include:
* The IT accomplice worked in the verification and fraud section of Camelot and therefore had access to winning numbers of unclaimed tickets and where and when the tickets were bought.
* He was therefore able to give that information to the fraudulent claimant, who bought the same numbers from the same location and then cleverly “damaged” the ticket to obliterate the date; if quizzed, he would have all the information he needed to verify where and when he bought the ticket;
* The claimant did just that, and submitted the ticket to Camelot, which was taken in and paid out the big win;
* The claimant then reneged on his agreement to share the spoils with the insider, who then tried to extort the money he felt he was owed by threatening to report the plot;
* The claimant then reported the IT accomplice to the police, saying that he had blackmailed him by threatening to reveal details of his criminal past to his girlfriend and had damaged his property;
* The police arrested the IT accomplice and began to prepare a case against him, but he committed suicide, leaving clues on his cell phone and in messages to friends which exposed the fraud “from the grave” so to speak. ‘You always wanted to be famous. Well, now, you’re going to be — for all the wrong reasons,’ he texted his partner in crime just before his death.
It’s a fascinating read, which can be accessed here:
