I bought $63 worth of lottery tickets but sued them for $4.3 million because I didn’t win. A judge agreed even though I didn’t have a real number
A MAN leading a class action lawsuit related to the largest lottery scam in US history has reportedly settled the case for a whopping $4.3 million.
Dale Culler, 53, is among at least three people who have filed a lawsuit against the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) following the discovery the games that he had entered were manipulated.
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He spent $63 on tickets to two different games and didn’t hit a single number – but a judge still agreed he had been scammed.
The Burlington, Vermont insurance salesman believed he was cheated of a fair shot at winning the jackpot after a former employee rigged the lottery system.
Dale said in a statement, “While I know the odds aren’t good, I never expected the games to be rigged and my chance to be zero.”
Judge Michael Huppert of the Polk County District Court in January allowed him to seek damages on behalf of hundreds of thousands of players.
Lawyers argued that MUSL failed to prevent tampering with games and failed to operate them in accordance with their own rules.
The Iowa-based nonprofit continued to deny any wrongdoing but agreed to settle the case for $4.3 million Des Moines Register.
The publication claimed Dale’s attorney, Blake Hanson, revealed that the gaming giant opted for a payment to avoid rising legal costs and the risk of a court case.
The settlement will reportedly reimburse the cost of tickets purchased for nine specific drawing dates for games sold in 33 states, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Washington DC
Players who bought tickets between November 23, 2005 and May 23, 2013 can request a refund of their doubtful tickets.
Proof of purchase – such as copies of lost tickets – is not required, although administrators have the right to request verification to prevent fraud.
Refunds vary based on ticket value, provided proof of purchase is presented, and the number of valid claims submitted.
MUSL has reportedly agreed that Dale will receive 30 percent of the settlement — $1.29 million — for his legal fees, as well as a $20,000 “incentive fee” for litigation.
The rest of the money is split among other players who unwittingly bought tickets to rigged games.
It brings to an end the decades-long saga of one of the biggest lottery scams in US history, orchestrated by Eddie Tipton, former MSLA director of IT.
He pulled off the $24 million scandal for five years by manipulating lottery computers and sharing the winnings with family and friends.
Tipton injected computer code into computer software to generate “random numbers” that allowed him to manipulate the odds of winning.
It rigged lottery draws in Colorado, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma — giving players like Dale even worse odds of winning.
The former Lotto employee first found success with his scam in 2005 when he hit a $4.8 million jackpot.
He snagged several other big wins, totaling $24 million in winnings before law enforcement caught up with him.
The Hot Lotto scandal began to unravel in 2010 when Tipton bought the winning ticket himself instead of having someone else do it for him.
Tipton then asked a friend to claim the $16.5 million prize.
It was three years before investigators connected Tipton to the lottery scandal.
He pleaded guilty to ongoing criminal conduct in 2017 and was ordered to pay back $2.2 million in lottery winnings in Colorado, Wisconsin, Kansas and Oklahoma.
He told the judge at his sentencing in 2017 that he “wrote software that contained code that enabled me to understand or technically predict winning numbers and that I gave those numbers to other people who then played the lottery.” won and shared the prize with me”.
Tipton was released on parole in July last year after serving five years of a 25-year sentence.