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WHIO-TV
Video
I-Team
Investigation: Lottery Targets Retailers
Who Steal Winning Tickets
By Jim
Otte
Dayton
-For some people working at Ohio Lottery
outlets, the lure of easy money is too much to resist. In the last two
years,
24 workers at gas stations and carryouts statewide have been caught
stealing
winning tickets from unsuspecting lottery players. The stolen prize
money
ranged from $5 to $10,000.
How
were they found out?
The
lottery's own investigative unit not only
caught them in the act, their crimes were all captured on video. "Our
main
focus is that we want to protect the integrity of the lottery," said
Dave
Pollock, Ohio Lottery Investigation Supervisor. Pollock heads a unit of
undercover agents who travel to lottery retailers across Ohio armed
with hidden
cameras.
With
cameras rolling, they bring winning tickets to carryouts,
ask the store worker to check the ticket and return to the counter to
ask
"Any winners?"
At
one Dayton carryout, the employee, Fathi
Hamed, said "No." In fact, Pollock said, the ticket was actually
worth $10,000. Investigators told the I-Team in many cases,
the store
worker will look directly at the customer and lie about the value of
the
ticket. "They'll come out and say, 'No you don't have any winners,' or
it
is a $500 winner and they will say you won $5," Pollock said.
The
investigative unit has a perfect record
when it comes to convictions. All 24 cases where criminal charges have
been
filed resulted in guilty pleas. Hamed lost his job and later confessed
in court
to the theft. He avoided jail time when he qualified for the diversion
program
for first-time offenders.
What
can you do to protect yourself?
Investigators
said lottery players should sign
each of their tickets to prevent someone else from trying to cash them.
Lottery
outlets also offer self-check terminals so that players can determine
for
themselves if they have won or not.
Michael
Sliger, owner of Bee-Gee's Minit
Market, said customers should listen for the alarm that rings on the
lottery
terminal when a winning ticket is validated. The machine will sound the
alarm,
"Winner, Winner." The terminal's sign will show the dollar amount of
the winning ticket.
"Another
quick, easy thing is to ask for a
receipt," Sliger said.
Sliger
said he does not mind lottery
investigators testing the honesty of his fellow retailers. "Most of the
people are up and up but there are a few (retail) agents out there that
have
had some issues and I have customers who have had issues with agents,"
Sliger said.
Despite
increased competition from other gaming
venues, like casinos in Cleveland, Toledo, and Columbus, the
lottery had a record year for ticket sales in 2012.
Total
ticket sales from June 2011 to June 2012 was $2.7 billion, according to
the
lottery's 2012 annual report.
See
the video and read other stories at WHIO-TV
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