Italy’s Special Currency Police Unit of the Guardia di Finanza has arrested 12 people in connection to four Scratch and Win instant lottery jackpots, two for grand prizes of seven million euros each and two worth five million each (a total of US$28 million).
Four of the 12 people arrested were current employees of Lottomatica Holding, the Italian subsidiary of International Game Technology. The rest were related to them.
According to Italian news reports, over a period of four years between 2015 and 2019, the Lottomatica employees acquired confidential information on the winning tickets and their location at retailers. IGT’s internal code of ethics prohibits its employees from participating in its own games and lotteries, so the employees dispatched relatives to the locations to purchase tickets until they hit the jackpots.
The odds of hitting the 7-million-euro jackpot are nearly 16 million-to-1, while the odds of obtaining the winning 5-million-euro ticket are more than 9 million-to-1.
The 12 suspects are charged with aggravated fraud, unauthorized access to computer systems, receiving stolen goods, and self-laundering of illicit capital.
In a statement, IGT said, “IGT takes this incident extremely seriously, and has, since the beginning of the investigation, fully cooperated with the Judicial Authority in order to facilitate the investigation into the alleged misconduct and fully protect the integrity of its games and the interests of its customers. As a precautionary measure, the company suspended the four employees as soon as it was aware of the investigation.
“IGT has dedicated considerable resources to support the Judicial Authority, conduct an internal investigation and fully evaluate the situation. IGT has also taken prompt measures to thoroughly review its internal systems and processes designed to prevent criminal and fraudulent activities and further its protections.
“The Company is continuing to engage authorities with full transparency to assist in their ongoing investigation into this alleged misconduct.”
