After a Chatham man allegedly tried to claim a six million dollar Lotto 6/49 prize without his girlfriend finding out, the prize was in a state of limbo for several years. Casino scandals like this take place across the world, leaving authorities scrambling to catch the culprits, and the victims hoping for the law to take its course.
Here we’ve compiled a list of the most scandalous gambling scams in the province of Ontario. These scams again confirm many people’s belief that online casinos are better than the brick and mortar casino establishments. Find out more about some gambling scandals that have rocked the nation over the years. On the other hand, if you wish to head straight to some of the most reliable online casinos in Canada, you’d find them detailed here at online-casinos-canada.ca online casinos guide.
Store clerks stole tickets
Bob Edmonds, a 78-year old Canadian resident, was as ecstatic as imaginable after checking two of his tickets at one of his regular stores. While he was given another ticket by the store clerk and his wife, it was the couple that maliciously cashed in the $250,000 jackpot. Edmonds repeatedly complained to the lottery officials without yielding any results.
He got some relief after the provincial police started investigating the matter, however this wasn’t the first time someone was denied their rightful claim (as you can read it here in this article on cnn.com).The clerk and his spouse were arrested sometime in 2002 for fraud and theft but to Edmonds’ dismay, the charges were stayed. Left with no other resort, Edmonds sued the couple along with the lottery company. The outcome was in his favour, and he ended up winning both cases. Unfortunately, his luck had run out as he died of Cancer back in April 2007, soon after he had received an in person apology from one of the top lottery company officials. In a similar incident, back in 2005, Hafiz Malik, a store owner in Ontario cashed in a winning 6/45 draw ticket with a prize of $ 5.75 million. Later, it was alleged that Malik had stolen the ticket. In 2010, he was found guilty and received a one year prison sentence.
Sometimes there’s no end to such activities
Back in 2009, David Stucky, a resident of Toronto was fined a mammoth $2 million after he sold Super 7 lottery ticket bundles to unsuspecting buyers who were hoping for good odds at winning millions of dollars. In his convoluted scheme, Stucky managed to mail three million ads to carefully targeted victims and managed to generate a million dollars in revenue for a fictitious association between March of 1999 and May of 2000. All the participants were under the impression that their winnings would be shared only with a number of people, but to their utter dismay, the contract never stated how many. Online casinos are usually clearer about such things. The average jackpot payout after the split turned out to be a meagre 75 cents.
In another incident, the Ontario Lottery Corporation awarded a sum of $ 12.5 million, excluding interest, to the winners of a 2003 Super 7 prize who had been cheated out of their rightful claim. A total of three people were later suspected and investigated with stealing of lottery tickets from the customers of a variety store in Burlington. According to the police, it was one of these tickets that yielded the winning award.
Personal interests come in the way
A resident of Ontario, Raymond Sobeski won the Lotto Super 7, but waited for an entire year to claim his mega prize amounting to $30 million. In the meanwhile, Sobeski divorced his wife. Not surprisingly, his former partner filed a formal suit, which reached a settlement in 2005. This isn’t the first time that lottery winnings have come in the way of personal relationships (you can read another similar story on dailymail.co.uk).
When the stakes are this high, scandalous incidents are bound to take place. Thankfully, in most cases the authorities were prompt in taking action, allowing justice to take its course.
