Texas Lottery Facing Lawsuit Over Money Laundering Claims, More

It's been a pretty rough few months for the Texas Lottery and things aren't getting any better with the latest claim hitting them. A couple of the last issues surrounding them revolved around potential money laundering as well as the existence and legitimacy of lottery couriers.

When it comes to the lottery courier situation, initially the Texas Lottery said there were no issues with them, but then turned around and did a 180 saying they were going to move to ban them.

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With the latest claim that's come in, both money laundering and the lottery couriers are combining.

Big Win For Dedicated Player

On May 17, 2023, Jerry Reed of Mansfield, a dedicated lottery player who always plays the same numbers each time took down a jackpot of $7.5 million. That would make just about anyone happy and have zero complaints.

Reed certainly didn't have any complaints when he knocked down the win. He was euphoric. However, that feeling of euphoria began to dissipate as he began to learn some things.

A Missed Opportunity

Just a month prior, the jackpot was sitting at $95 million when someone won that one. Definitely life changing money and huge congratulations to the person who won it. However, some details started to come out around that particular win.

The winner of the $95 million jackpot was an entity known as Rook TX, and they pretty much guaranteed themselves the jackpot by purchasing all possible number combinations to guarantee a win. They did just that and skated off as the sole recipients of the jackpot.

The Issues Around The Win

Here's where the money laundering and lottery courier complaints come in. Upon finding this out, Reed did some digging. He found that the operation was actually based out of Malta and executed through a betting company in London.

The purchase of the tickets was done through four online ticket sales companies, AKA lottery couriers, and was allegedly even helped by the Texas Lottery Commission by allowing the company to skirt some of their own rules.

Why Is This Such a Big Deal

Well the jackpot that Reed won was the first jackpot hit AFTER the big $95 million win, which means if this hadn't been allowed, the likeliness of the jackpot being hit was much lower, and Reed's win could've been worth more than $100 million.

Reed believes via his attorneys that the game was rigged, and the money used was being laundered. Now, it's important to note there is nothing against purchasing every single number combination, so nothing was illegal there.

The use of online apps or lottery couriers has been a sore spot with the state of Texas for awhile now and has been largely viewed as illegal as the rules of the lottery state you must purchase a physical ticket.

Is There A Precedent For This & What's Next

There is in fact a precedent set for this sort of case. A claim filed in Iowa over a jackpot won in 2011 was successful after it was uncovered that the former head of information security for the Multi-State Lottery Association had used his computer skills to rig wins for friends and family members.

It was a similar case in which a large jackpot was won just prior to the person making the claim won theirs. The argument was the same, that his jackpot should've potentially be bigger. The claimant won that case.

What's next for Reed is to go through the court proceedings now to see if he can obtain a similar outcome.

For a deeper look into the case, you can head to the Austin American Statesman.