Iowa Lottery Worker Arrested for Keeping $16.5 Million Lottery Ticket

After an investigation that is four-year Iowa Lottery officials believe a member of staff fraudulently won the $16.5 million Hot Lotto jackpot. (This winning ticket was from a previous Lotto draw for similar amount).
Iowa Lottery officials say they’ve finally solved a mystical four-year investigation regarding the unidentified owner of a $16.5 million Hot Lotto ticket that is winning.
The path led authorities to an unlikely source: a lottery worker who himself is not allowed buying a ticket, as a matter of conflict of interest.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation claims 51-year-old Eddie Raymond Tipton purchased the ticket in 2010, despite being prohibited from playing as a result of their employment as the director of information securities using the Multi-State Lottery Association.
Investigators determined that Tipton went to great lengths to conceal their identity and collect on the ticket that is winning the help of others.
After digging through one of many most complex scandals in the state’s 26-year lottery history, detectives hit paydirt whenever they gave resistance to a man that is canadian Philip Johnston, who had been hired by Tipton. The details received led to Tipton’s arrest this and he is currently being held on $10,000 bail at the Polk County Jail on two felony counts of fraud week.
Hot Lotto, Cold Case
Tipton is charged with purchasing A hot lotto ticket on December 29, 2010, at A des Moines Quick Trip gas station.
The jackpot was valued at $16.5 million, with a cash option of $10,750,000 at the time. The Iowa Lottery unveiled a winning ticket had been offered, nonetheless no winner had come forward.
Into the grievance, county prosecutors assert that Tipton contacted a Texas attorney who arranged to hire Johnston to claim the jackpot, but lottery officials refused to payout following the Canadian’s tale didn’t add up.
The case went unsolved until just hours ahead of the one-year claiming deadline.
A trust set up to protect the identity of the winner in December of 2011, New York attorney Crawford Shaw presented the winning ticket on behalf of Hexam Investments Ltd. When Shaw declined to answer questions about the ticket purchaser’s identification and people involved with its handling, payment had been denied.
Authorities were not sure whether the owner that is original of solution ended up being the victim of a bad criminal activity or had committed a crime, but they did know something smelled fishy.
Whenever surveillance video was made public of a tipton that is disguised the ticket, a former co-worker came forward. Authorities also collected evidence after granting Johnston resistance in return for information on the original ticket owner.
Ironic Twist
Headquartered in Iowa, the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) is just a group that is non-profit of 31 member states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. Virgin Islands.
In addition to the Lotto that is hot offshore Powerball and coordinates with Mega Millions. Tipton’s task performance in information safety might have ironically resulted in his downfall.
Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich told reporters, ‘ We now have strong security procedures in destination to protect and ensure the integrity of our games and we absolutely believe this case indicated those processes worked to guard lottery players, lottery games, and lottery prizes.’
Since Tipton ended up being privy to security that is confidential and protocol, he was banned from playing the lottery, yet still felt his scheme would not be detected. ‘We all know there is always those who will try and beat the machine. We have actually and certainly will continue to upgrade our security procedures to spot vulnerabilities to protect against them,’ Rich explained.
Hot Lotto is not a televised drawing. Rather, the lottery makes use of random number generators. Investigators continues to examine the case, as they hope to determine whether Tipton somehow influenced the computer’s generated numbers.
Caesars Bankruptcy Plans Get Damaged In Court
Caesars’ intends to restructure its astronomical debt has met a hurdle that is big the form of US District Judge Shira Scheindlin, whom says that its plans are really a breach of federal law. (Image: finechinagirl.com)
Caesars Entertainment’s (CZR) plans to place its main operating arm, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company (CEOC), into Chapter 11 bankruptcy hit a major casino-online-australia.net setback this week when a
New York judge ruled that its reorganization efforts have actually violated law that is federal.
Caesars has been involved in months of negotiation and litigation along with its bondholders as it attempts to restructure some $18 billion of its debt.
But the group’s lower level creditors argue that its restructuring plan, worked out with its major creditors, unjustly protects the company’s interests during the expense of the own.
When Caesars filed for voluntary bankruptcy court in Chicago a week ago, these creditors had already filed a suit of their very own against Caesars, for involuntary bankruptcy, three days earlier in a court in Delaware.
The hearing this in Manhattan was an attempt by Caesars to have the Delaware filing dismissed, a move that ultimately caused the company more harm than good week.
Render Unto Caesars…
US District Judge Shira Scheindlin was critical of CZR, ruling that creditors’ accusations concerning the transfer of valuable properties away from CEOC over the summer time, also the CZR’s elimination of guarantees for creditors, were a violation of the federal Trust Indenture Act of 1939.
It was exactly this kind of ‘impermissible out-of-court restructuring’ that the Act was built to avoid, she said.
Caesars’s astronomical, industry-high debt is due to 2008 when it had been bought out by Apollo worldwide Management and TPG Capital in a $30.1 billion takeover.
This was just like the recession began to ravage the casino industry in the us, and Caesars, then with 50 casinos throughout the United States, bore the brunt of that recession.
Caesars has lost cash every since 2009, and recently posted Q3 losses of $908.1 million year.
It has regularly struggled to pay the attention on its debt, final month defaulting on a $225 million repayment.
According to Judge Scheindlin, the bondholders that are dissident complaint alleges that Caesars’ ‘ultimate plan’ is always to place CEOC ‘into bankruptcy while protecting Apollo Management LP and TPG Inc. from CEOC’s creditors.’
The band of creditors has additionally accused the company of trying to develop a ‘good Caesars’ and a ‘bad Caesars,’ someone to own the valuable and properties that are iconic someone to support the debt.
Bankruptcies Frozen
Caesars has countered that the group is wanting ‘to wreak havoc on the orderly process the debtors, their experts, and the many consenting stakeholders have been preparing for months.’
‘We believe this restructuring is in the best interests of CEOC’s stakeholders and will result in a sustainable capital structure for CEOC and value creation for all stakeholders,’ said Gary Loveman, CEO of Caesars Entertainment and chairman of CEOC, recently. ‘The restructuring of CEOC could be the culmination of a years-long effort to improve the wellness of CEOC’s balance sheet, which has included significant investment in new and upgraded assets, particularly in Las Vegas.’
Meanwhile, the two bankruptcy situations are effortlessly frozen until the judge in Delaware decides which court will preside over the bankruptcy proceedings.
This week in a statement, Caesars spokesman Stephen Cohen said the company was unfazed by the court ruling. ‘Given how big is the claims at issue and our strong defenses, we do not expect the ruling to impact the planned reorganization,’ he said.
NCLGS Adopts Policy Framework for Online Gambling Regulation
NCLGS president Helene Keeley claims that the organization’s framework will provide states guidance on crafting on the web gambling legislature. (Image: mainstreet.com)
The National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) has voted to adopt a policy framework that was first published last November.
The NCLGS, which can be consists of legislators from many states that have active gambling companies, has been focusing on the insurance policy framework since 2013.
Referred to as the Policy Framework for the legislation of Internet Gaming, the NCLGS policy statement was made to give states some guidance in how to enact Web gambling legislation when they choose to do so.
After the most recent amendments towards the framework, it was explained that the NCLGS was not making a declaration for or against online gambling, but instead providing a framework that is basic legislators could work from when developing their own online gambling legislation.
‘ Thanks to the input of a many interested parties, the Framework is balanced and informed and, we’m proud to say, is a hallmark of NCLGS efforts to date,’ stated State Representative Helene Keeley, (D-Delaware), president of the NCLGS. ‘It’s time for states that tend to welcome Internet gambling to take a look that is in-depth exactly what the Framework has to offer.’
Framework Highlights Ten Areas of Focus
The main focus of the framework was to address the main areas that governments should manage when legalizing on the web gambling.
In particular, ten issues were highlighted, including taxation and licensing to payment processing, confirming player identities (including age and location), exactly how to craft multi-jurisdictional agreements, and exactly what games can be offered.
While the framework isn’t legislation on its own, it may be utilized as being a structure that is bare-bones which a law are built.
The existence of the framework could eventually show valuable in future efforts to regulate online gambling, and not just because it provides a point that is starting.
Simply having an NCLGS framework to the office from should provide legislators with desire for the presssing issue some credibility, as it implies that serious thought and input went into the problem from the number of parties.
It might also help ensure that states are working through the same playbook that is basic the issue, increasing the chances that state guidelines will be compatible with each other in the future.
While the framework is very similar to the one released in November after a round that is second of (albeit with some amendments, including stronger protection for player funds), it could not be considered an official NCLGS policy framework until this month’s vote.
Commentators who had influence in the framework include the Alderney Gambling Control Commission therefore the us Association of State and Provincial Lotteries.
More States Considering Online Gambling in 2015
The NCLGS framework comes at a time when an escalating number of states are considering gambling legislation that is online.
In California, legislators are again offering Internet poker a look, with Assemblyman Mike Gatto having currently introduced a bill in today’s session, albeit one with some controversial clauses.
In other states, online gambling efforts are facing longer odds.
In Washington, efforts are underway to decriminalize on line gambling as well as perhaps also regulate online poker, though the bill leaves nearly all of the real regulations to the state video gaming commission.
Meanwhile, Representative Bobby Moak (D-53rd District) has introduced just one more Web gambling bill in Mississippi, though the prospects for regulations seem little better than in previous years.