Lotteries represent a very lucrative business, so it comes as no surprise that some people try to get a piece of the pie through less than honest and legal means. That is the case of four clerks, which have received indictments in their name from a Louisville, Kentucky grand jury. The four men are all charged with state lottery fraud, while one was also accused of giving false facts to investigators from the Kentucky State Lottery.

In March, this year, the Kentucky Lottery Corporation initiated a security measure called the Integrity Testing Program. It was designed to make sure all the clerks from lottery retailers are following the rules, procedures and guidelines for awarding winnings. As the investigations commenced, undercover lottery agents went around to many retailers and presented lottery tickets with winnings of $8,000. Lottery winning numbers

“When the tickets were presented, security personnel told the clerks he or she didn’t know if any of the tickets were winners,” Bill Hickerson, The Kentucky State Lottery’s Vice-President of the Security Division, stated. “It was up to the clerks to scan the tickets to see if they were indeed winners.”

33 lottery retailers from Lexington and Louisville were targeted by the lottery’s security division. The choices were made according to complaints from customers which were unhappy with how these particular retailers dealt with cash-ins.

“Upon a thorough and complete review of the investigation performed by the Kentucky Lottery Corporation’s security department, as well as a thorough review of all applicable Kentucky law, the decision was made to seek indictments of the individuals involved,” R. David Stengel, Commonwealth Attorney, stated. “Many years ago, when the lottery first started in the Commonwealth, the state legislature enacted a very specific set of laws to govern the operation of the lottery in Kentucky. The Kentucky Revised Statutes governing the lottery specify what shall be felony offenses and what shall be the appropriate penalties if those offenses are committed. The indictments returned today reflect the application of these statutes to the conduct of those named in the indictments.”

The four people accused are: Bhaggy Patel and Hardik Patel, working at a Pantry Fresh located on 464 Squires Road, Lexington; Vaishaliben Patel, working at Hunter’s Market located at 6303 Lower Hunters Trace, Louisville; Joanne Wiggins, working at Meijer Gas, located at 9905 Dixie Highway, Lousiville. National lottery