Italian lotto workers win millions in cheating scam

Editorial Team

By Editorial Team
Published 4 years ago

A dozen employees and former employees of the Italian lottery company won €24 million ($AU40 million) through cheating, Italian financial crimes police announced on Thursday.

Photo: ANSA

The alleged cheaters bought four winning lottery tickets between 2015 and 2019 after breaking into internal computer systems to find out where they were being sold, the Guardia di Finanza police said.

Two of the so-called “stratch & win” tickets were worth €5 million each and two more €7 million each.

Circumnavigating company rules banning employees from taking part in lottery games, they claimed their illicit wins through relatives or close friends, sharing part of the money with them.

Police seized assets worth more than €27 million from 12 people involved in the scam, who were under investigation for aggravated fraud, computer hacking, trading in stolen goods and money laundering.

National lottery games in Italy are managed by a private company.

The company, Lottomatica, assisted police with their investigation, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

By Editorial Team

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