2003년도 12월에 Super 7 로또복권의 당첨금 $12.5-million 의 원주인을 찾는다고 합니다. 신문기사에 따르면, 이름을 알 수 없는 한 사람이 복권을 그로서리가게에서 당첨여부를 확인해서 무료복권(Free Ticket)에 당첨이 되었는데, 그로서리가게 주인과 아들이 이 복권을 그 사람에게 주지 않고 가지고 있다가 그 복권이 당첨되었다고 합니다. 그로서리 주인은 딸에게 복권을 주었고 딸은 복권판매상과 관련이 없다고 주장을 하고 당첨금을 수령했습니다.
하지만 온타리오주의 복권회사가 HP와 Microsoft 에서 개발한 복권시스템을 가동하면서 거짓말이 들통났습니다. 복권회사는 과거로 1999년까지 거슬러 올라가 복권을 산 사람에 대한 이력정보를 확인 할 수가 있는데, 시스템에 의해 파악된 원래 복권구입자는 정기적으로 복권을 구입하고 한 그룹이 많은 복권을 구입한 것중에 하나일 것으로 믿는다고 말했습니다.
복권을 사기쳐 뺏은 당시 그로서리 주인이었던 정준철(Jun-Chul Chung, 60), 캐서린 정(Kathleen Chung, 29), 그리고 케네스 정(Kenneth Chung, 28) 은 사기, 돈세탁, 도둑질 등 범죄혐의로 체포되었는데, 보석금을 내고 풀려났다고 합니다. 그동안 토론토주위에 2채의 집, 고급 자동차 5대, 상업용 부동산, 보석, 전자제품등을 사는데 당첨금을 사용했고 경찰에 의해 $10 million 상당의 재산을 압수 또는 동결시켰다고 합니다.
올해 7월에는 온타리오 편의점 주인 Hafiz Malik 가 손님에게서 복권을 훔치고 $5.7-million 당첨금을 요구한 것때문에 1년 감옥형을 선고받았습니다.
이때문에 복권시스템이 많이 바뀌었는데, 상점 직원에게 복권을 건내줄 때 먼저 사인을 받게 바뀌었고, 자신의 가게에서 복권을 구입하는 직원들을 금지했고 복권이 상금에 당첨되면 주위에 있는 모든 사람이 알 수 있도록 복권을 스캔할 때 소리가 나도록 바꾸었습니다.
사기를 친 그러서리가게 주인과 자식이 한국사람인 것 같아서 정말 안타깝습니다. 관련 업종에 종사하는 교민이 많은 이곳에서도 모두들 조심하시길 바랍니다.
더 자세한 내용은 아래 기사를 읽어보세요.
<기사 출처> 위니펙 프리 프레스
Ontario father, son and family member allegedly stole $12.5M lotto ticket
By: Mary Gazze, The Canadian Press
TORONTO - Are you the victim of an alleged $12.5-million lottery jackpot theft?
Ontario police say someone else celebrated with what should have been your happy dance.
The "rightful" owner of the Super 7 ticket was defrauded of the winnings nearly seven years ago, police said.
Meanwhile, investigators allege the family accused of stealing the winnings lived in the lap of luxury — multiple homes and BMW and Mercedes vehicles were among their big-ticket purchases.
On Wednesday, provincial police and Ontario Lottery and Gaming launched a search for who they're calling the true owner, or owners, of the ticket that won the Dec. 26, 2003 draw.
"We don't know the identity of the person who bought the ticket because, historically, lottery in Canada has been anonymous," said OLG chairman Paul Godfrey.
"But if someone can come in and tell us everything we already know about the ticket, down to the last detail, there's a good chance we're looking at the rightful owner."
Someone bought a ticket at a That's Entertainment video store in St. Catharines, Ont., and validated it in nearby Burlington, where it won a free play, police allege.
The father and son who validated the ticket at the convenience store never handed the free ticket over to the customer, police said.
Then that ticket hit the jackpot.
It's alleged the father gave the ticket to his daughter, who claimed the prize and denied she had a connection to a lottery retailer.
Jun-Chul Chung, 60, Kathleen Chung, 29, and Kenneth Chung, 28, face several charges, including fraud over $5,000 and possession under $5,000.
They were released on bail after appearing in a Milton, Ont., court Wednesday, and their next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 27.
Police have seized or frozen about $10 million in assets.
The family used the payout to buy five luxury cars, two homes in the Toronto area, commercial properties, fancy jewelry and electronics, police said.
The OLG said it uncovered the alleged fraud thanks to new technology it's been using since June to track and detect patterns in ticket sale data.
In this case, the technology created a profile of the owner of the 2003 winning ticket.
The ticket buyer likely lived and worked in both St. Catharines and Burlington and often bought many tickets, which leads investigators to believe the winning ticket was part of a group purchase. The buyer regularly purchased Super 7 tickets at That's Entertainment.
Godfrey said the new data analysis computer system, developed with Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, can scan data as far back as 1999, and could potentially find that others may have also been defrauded.
Whenever the new technology finds something suspicious, the OLG hands information over to police, he said.
The OLG says other provincial counterparts have expressed interest in adopting similar systems.
Both the OLG and provincial police are prepared to wade through the thousands of calls they expect to receive from people who think they may have won. They will ask each claimant specific questions to determine whether they are the victim in question.
In June, convenience store owner Hafiz Malik was sentenced to one year in jail for stealing and claiming a $5.7-million prize.
Police confirmed they are investigating other potential cases but wouldn't reveal further details.
"This is a never-ending process. As time goes on there will be other suspicious wins that will be investigated," said Commissioner Chris Lewis.
The Ontario government called in the police three years ago after the province's ombudsman accused unscrupulous lottery-ticket retailers of collecting tens of millions of dollars in "dishonest" winnings.
The scandals led to changes in the lottery system, which now requires winners to sign their tickets before handing it over to a store clerk, banning clerks from buying tickets in their own store, and playing loud music when a winning ticket is scanned to make sure everyone knows the ticket is a winner.
Godfrey said that despite another black eye on the OLG's record, he believes the corporation is making progress in regaining the public's trust.
"It has been a long hill up. Are we at the top yet? Definitely not, we have more work to do but we’re on the right road,” he said.
"The public should take great confidence that the OLG is moving swiftly in this area."
OLG, which rakes in about $6.5 billion in revenues a year, has been plagued with other problems ranging from questionable expenses to botched scratch-and-win tickets, malfunctioning slot machines, lawsuits from gambling addicts, and a controversial casino power plant that ended up costing taxpayers $80 million.
