Have you ever heard of Eddie Tipton? Well, if you haven’t you should because this man masterminded one of the largest lottery scams ever, and who knows how long he may have been able to get away with it except for a suspicious experience with the Hot Lotto in Des Moines, Iowa.
The big mistake
The mistake with the lottery seems to have happened more
with the claiming of the ticket than anything else, because the purchase
wouldn’t have been a big deal if it hadn’t been for the strange way that the
‘winner’ tried to get the money. It was actually a lawyer who made the initial
claim, and then admitted that he was trying to claim the ticket for a client.
Next, a different lawyer showed up to claim the ticket on
behalf of a trust. It was all very confusing, and it led to investigators
taking a closer look at the case. That was when they found out the first lawyer
was the president of the corporation that benefited from the trust.
They began to investigate even more, but it took them years
before they finally decided to release video and audio from the purchase of the
ticket. And that was where things really got interesting.
All about Eddie
Eddie Tipton was the one they found when they finally
started looking into things and asking for help. And Eddie Tipton was the
information security director of the Multi-State Lottery Association. The
association that ran the Hot Lotto, and several other games throughout the
country as well.
It didn’t take long for investigators to find out that Eddie
was the one buying the ticket, a breach of the rules because of his position.
They found that he was also friends with the man who had claimed the earlier
ticket and they assumed that this was the end of it. He was found guilty and
the case seemed to be closed.
Until investigators learned that there were even more
winning tickets in Eddie’s past. And then they found other friends and family
who had claimed major prizes for games that Eddie had been a part of the
security for. Before long, the entire scheme started to unravel, and Eddie was
charged with even more crimes related to the lottery.
Where he’s at today
Today, Eddie is still in prison, though for how long is
uncertain given Iowa’s prison system. And he’s been charged with several counts
of ongoing criminal conduct, and fraud as well as being forced to pay
restitution for the amounts he won.
But of course, scams like that are rare and people who can
rig the lottery are definitely not a common sight. This is why it’s definitely
a good idea for you to take a shot at winning the lottery
for yourself. You never know what you could win, or how much fun you could have
by trying it out at least.
read more: How Some Companies are taking over the Retail Marketing with Its Strategies