More Camelot revelations

UK newspapers continued to chew on the GBP 2.5 million pay-out by Camelot on a fraudulent “damaged” national lottery ticket several years ago (see previous reports), suggesting Monday that the reason that the police had released the claimant last year without prosecuting him was that the ticket in question had disappeared whilst in Camelot’s possession.

The Mirror quoted sources “close to the police investigation” as revealing that one reason behind the decision was that Camelot had lost the dodgy ticket. The source told the newspaper: “It’s a bit like losing the murder weapon.”

Whether the alleged loss of the ticket can be connected to the fact that the claimant was allegedly assisted in his fraud by an IT insider at Camelot who committed suicide last year has yet to be revealed.

Apparently Camelot is now considering a civil action to recover the GBP2.5 million it paid out to the claimant, working on the premise that the evidence required in a civil case is not as stringent as that demanded by the courts in a criminal prosecution.

In criminal prosecutions a “beyond reasonable doubt” criteria is necessary, but in civil actions the issue can be decided on “the balance of probabilities”.

A Camelot source said: “The Gambling Commission said it wasn’t 100% proven but on the balance of probabilities, it was likely to have been a fraudulent claim. If that’s the case and that can be proven, we’d be the victims of a fraud and we would very much like to get that money back.”

However, Camelot has remained “tight lipped” on the detail surrounding the vetting and payment of the supposedly damaged ticket….and on the claims that the ticket has disappeared.

The Mirror sets five questions that still need to be answered:

* Was Camelot aware of the long friendship between the fraudster and its IT employee who has since committed suicide?

* Did that employee leave any notes or other relevant information on the case prior to his death in October last year?

* Was the IT employee at any stage involved in the verification of the now missing ticket?

* A step by step breakdown on how such damaged tickets are verified.

* What did the fraudster tell the police and Camelot? (He has remained silent during the current media enquiries).

* Crucially – what happened to the ticket at the centre of the issue? Was it “lost” and if so how?

* Does Camelot still possess a photocopy of the lost ticket?

* On what basis do the Gambling Commission say it is “more than likely” the ticket was a fraud? What evidence do they have to substantiate that?