TORONTO — A former convenience store owner was charged with fraud and theft Wednesday for allegedly claiming a multimillion-dollar lottery jackpot his customers won, the latest in a series of lottery scandals in Canada.
Four other store owners or their employees are under investigation in Ontario for similar accusations. The investigations began when the province's ombudsman accused the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. in March of ignoring alleged fraud by retailers who were winning too many prizes.
Police accused Hafiz Malik, 60, of claiming $5.6 million in January 2005 from a Lotto 6-49 draw using a ticket bought by four Toronto residents. The four say Malik stole the ticket after they asked him to validate it.
Police said nearly $5 million worth of Malik's assets have been seized, including his home, bank account, investment account and three vehicles.
"Four rightful owners were deprived of a lottery win that would have changed their lives," Detective Bob Goodall said.
Police said the rightful owners did not realize they had won until they rechecked the ticket in July. Police provided no further details. Ontario Lottery spokeswoman Teresa Roncon said Wednesday the four will receive the prize money.
Malik, who was released on bail Wednesday, declined comment.
"I don't have anything for you," said Malik, who wore a scarf over his face as he left the courthouse.
The lottery scandal broke in October 2006 when it was revealed that a retailer cheated an 82-year-old Ontario man out of $249,000 in winnings.
Other provinces started their own investigations.
In British Columbia, one insider was found to have won 11 times in five years, collecting a total of nearly $300,000. Another won nearly $10,000 a year for four years. The lottery corporation kept few tabs on retailers, said ombudsman Kim Carter.
An audit in Nova Scotia found retailers pocketed 85 winning tickets — each worth more than $24,000 — for a total of nearly $14 million.
Several steps have been taken to address the problem, including installing self-serve ticket checkers in Ontario. Next year, players across Canada will have to sign their lottery tickets before cashing them in, while retailers will have to undergo background checks.
"Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God" -Thomas Jefferson
"The tree of freedom must be nurtured from time to time with the blood of its patriots" -Thomas Jefferson
"When the Government Fears the People, There is Liberty; When the People Fear the Government, There is Tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson
Posts: 4749 | Location: Reggio di Calabria, Italy / New York United States | Registered: July 12, 2007
The lottery system in Canada is Fuked. The variety store owners have a 30% higher chance of wining statistically, and the Lottery Corp was not concerned about this. WTF!
There are probably dozens of cases of people getting ripped off for millions and they do not even know it.
These store owners are long gone. But what the h3ll did they expect, giving this kind of power to a variety store owner!
"Bud spelers of the word unight, and remumber: cabron is most abundent elemant in hte youknwverse"
"They're not real Cubans. They're Dominicans." Yeah. I'm a little worried. When there's no work, and the people get restless, who do you think they come after?... El Presidente!
Posts: 764 | Location: South Lyon, MI | Registered: February 08, 2007
I always used to wonder about this. What was to stop a retailer from doing this, only honesty. Nowadays you can't expect everyone to be on the up and up. Its about time they cracked down on this.
My wifes sister won $25,000 on a scratch ticket. She handed it to the cashier only expecting to cash out $10 as the story goes(it was one of those busy tickets that had a lot going on). To her surprise she won the jackpot for that ticket. After hearing that I thought she was lucky to have an honest cashier.
--“I'm mad as HELL and I'm NOT gonna take it anymore!” --Peter Finch, Network [1976]
Posts: 289 | Location: O H I O | Registered: February 18, 2006
The lottery system in Canada is Fuked. The variety store owners have a 30% higher chance of wining statistically, and the Lottery Corp was not concerned about this. WTF!
Don't they have a lottery commission to over see. Or a govt or state or in Canada's case a provincial office where winners can turn in there tickets without fear of being ripped off.Every state in America has a state run office to help people out.
"Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God" -Thomas Jefferson
"The tree of freedom must be nurtured from time to time with the blood of its patriots" -Thomas Jefferson
"When the Government Fears the People, There is Liberty; When the People Fear the Government, There is Tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson
Posts: 4749 | Location: Reggio di Calabria, Italy / New York United States | Registered: July 12, 2007
Now they do. In the past they relied on the honesty of the variety store owner to alert the ticket holder that they have won millions.
Now the ticket owner must sign the ticket, and they can check their own ticket numbers.
The lottery system in Canada was a joke until the summer of 2007. Some variety store owners would win 30 prizes over a few years and walk away with millions, and the lottery commission would do nothing.
There will probably be several class action law suites, which will be settled using tax payers money.
quote:
Originally posted by SHEEPSHEAD BAY:
quote:
The lottery system in Canada is Fuked. The variety store owners have a 30% higher chance of wining statistically, and the Lottery Corp was not concerned about this. WTF!
Don't they have a lottery commission to over see. Or a govt or state or in Canada's case a provincial office where winners can turn in there tickets without fear of being ripped off.Every state in America has a state run office to help people out.
"Bud spelers of the word unight, and remumber: cabron is most abundent elemant in hte youknwverse"
I cannot believe that Canadians are as a group less honest than Americans. (In fact Canadians are renownwd for their politness here)This has to be going on in the lower 48 but I have never heard of it. Is the news being supressed so people do not lose confidence in their state lotteries?
Good people sleep at night knowing there are rough men ready to do violence on their behalf
Posts: 1702 | Location: Connecticut | Registered: November 19, 2004
Initially the Lottery Corp tried to deny their was a problem, and refused to listen to anyone who complained.
It was not until a major newspaper released the statistics, which showed that the average variety store owner who sold lottery tickets had a 30% greater chance or winning. The lottery corp tried to claim that variety store owners bought more tickets on average.
Finally after the shit hit the fan, they admitted that there was a problem.
quote:
Originally posted by SAXON9075: I cannot believe that Canadians are as a group less honest than Americans. (In fact Canadians are renownwd for their politness here)This has to be going on in the lower 48 but I have never heard of it. Is the news being supressed so people do not lose confidence in their state lotteries?
"Bud spelers of the word unight, and remumber: cabron is most abundent elemant in hte youknwverse"
