Bye. Lottery needs to take a closer look at frequent winners, says Auditor General DeFoor

(*This story was updated on Monday, 11/15/21 at 1:41 p.m. to include comment from the Pennsylvania Lottery)

Pennsylvania’s lottery must keep a closer watch on frequent winners and state lawmakers should tighten rules for retailers that participate in the lottery, the state’s elected fiscal watchdog said Monday.

Between July 2017 and March 2020, 17 players scored 50 or more wins of $600 each. Players filed 1,344 claims totaling nearly $2.7 million, Auditor General Tim DeFoor’s office said in a report released Monday. Even if these victories are legitimate, their frequency “justifies.”[s] further analysis.”

“The key findings of our report demonstrate that the Lottery has security measures in place to prevent or detect illegal or fraudulent activity by retailers selling lottery products,” DeFoor, a Republican, said in a statement. . “When you take a closer look at the Lottery data as we do, it will be simple to identify these players. The truth is the Lottery has the data and isn’t using it.”

According to DeFoor’s office, the Lottery collects data on players who file tax claims of $600 or more. However, the agency does not utilize this data to identify frequent winners. Such analysis “would help determine whether someone is claiming rewards for a banned player or engaging in illegal activity, such as tax or child support evasion. [The] The Lottery will then be able to refer the matter to the appropriate law enforcement agency,” DeFoor’s office said in a statement.

“The Lottery has determined that it does not have the legal authority to investigate these common claims from people who are not retailers,” DeFoor said. “Lottery officials may cooperate with the Pennsylvania Inspector General or Attorney General to investigate these claims. If they are unable to do so, we recommend that the General Assembly step in and give Lottery officials the authority to do so through legislation.”

*In a statement, the Lottery said that while the agency agrees with some of the findings of DeFoor’s report, it “strongly disagrees[s] with the performance audit finding that players’ frequent winnings in the lottery indicate illegal activity by players. From our perspective, this baseless claim is based on the same flawed methodology that others have relied on to wrongly ask questions about the perceived statistical improbability of certain lottery players’ winnings.

In 2017, DeFoor’s predecessor, Democratic Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, brought the agency under the microscope after PennLive investigation “I revealed it 200 Pennsylvanians won 50 or more lottery prizes worth $600 or more between 2000 and 2016 – a feat that in many cases is incredible according to statisticians,” the news site reported

The winners included several current and former winners retailersPennLive reported at the time.

Spokeswoman Ewa Swope said the agency wanted Lotto players to know “that the security procedures in place validate every Lottery winning, ensuring that all prizes paid are legal.

“Furthermore, we continually work to ensure that our company operates to the highest standards of integrity and professionalism, which means maintaining an open dialogue with Lottery employees in other jurisdictions, industry suppliers and law enforcement agencies to ensure we implement the latest procedures and security safeguards,” Swope said.

Under state law, while Lottery employees, their families and certain state employees are prohibited from playing the agency’s games, retailers and their spouses are allowed to play. DeFoor’s analysis found that one frequent winner was the spouse of a lottery retailer, who submitted 88 winning entries; the retailer filed 42 successful claims during the same period. Under current rules, the retailer’s winning claims will be flagged for consideration, but its spouses will not, DeFoor’s office said.

DeFoor’s office says the General Assembly should pass legislation holding retailers to the same standards as Lottery employees and Pennsylvania Department of Revenue employees.

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