Colorado Lottery players are now demanding an Iowa court judge to grant them reparation in connection with the 2010 lottery-fixing scandal.
The Denver Post reported that lawyers lodged a consumer fraud case against Multi-State Lottery Association (MLSA) before the Iowa district court in Des Moines, in behalf of hundreds of thousands of lottery players who lost in what they described as rigged jackpot game.
It would be recalled that the association’s former security director, Eddie Tipton, was convicted of fraud for tampering the number generator that picked the digits for the $16.5 million drawing at the association’s suburban Des Moines headquarters.
With Tipton’s conviction, the petitioners argued that MLSA should be held liable for failing to prevent lottery games from being rigged. As a result of the rigged lottery draw, the players lost money and should be reimbursed plus interest.
The questionable lottery products were Hot Lotto, Colorado Lotto, Wisconsin Megabucks and Kansas 2X2.
Nicholas Mauro, one of the plaintiff’s attorneys, explained that it will be economical to file a class suit than pursuing individual lawsuits since the amount each player lost is relatively small compared to the expense of suing the association.
According to the report, the lawsuit was the first class action that stemmed from the 2010 lottery-fixing scandal and the second suit overall.
Iowa financial planner “Lucky” Larry Dawson, who won a $9 million jackpot in 2011 but contends it should have been worth $25.5 million had the prior drawing not been rigged, was the first person to sue MLSA for the rigged lottery game.
In October, District Court Judge Karen Romano threw out on Wednesday the petition of the lottery group asking to dismiss the case filed against them by Dawson.
“Lottery players across the country, including Iowans, were defrauded as a result of rigged lottery games,” said the attorneys, Jerry Crawford and Nick Mauro. “This ruling allows us to focus on learning why and how the Iowa Lottery and (the association) allowed this to occur. More important, it provides the opportunity to hold them accountable for their conduct.”
