The long-running lottery jackpot investigation that began here in Iowa has been expanded again, now involving lottery jackpot prizes in five states, the latest in Kansas. A felony criminal conduct charge filed this fall that stemmed from jackpots won in Iowa, Colorado, Wisconsin and Oklahoma now also includes two jackpots claimed in Kansas.
At the time that all of the jackpots were won, the man at the center of the case worked as an information security consultant at a vendor organization within the lottery industry. That man, Eddie Tipton, later became the director of information security at that same vendor organization, the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which is based in Urbandale. MUSL handles day-to-day functions such as prize drawings in some lotto games on behalf of U.S. lotteries. In his work at MUSL, Tipton evaluated security systems at many U.S. lotteries and provided other information-technology duties, including software programming.
Tipton was convicted this summer on two felony counts of fraud in the case that started the investigation nearly five years ago: the attempted claim of a lottery jackpot in 2010 here in Iowa.
Then in October, a felony charge of ongoing criminal conduct was filed against Tipton that initially encompassed lottery jackpot prizes won in three states: the attempted claim here in Iowa; a jackpot claimed in 2005 in Colorado; and another in 2007 in Wisconsin. A jackpot claimed in 2011 in Oklahoma was added to the charge in November. And now, two jackpot prize claims in 2010 in Kansas also have been added to the charge.
In all of the incidents, Tipton is charged with violating Iowa’s ongoing criminal conduct statute. The criminal complaint against him stipulates that he helped build the random-number generator equipment used in the jackpot drawings for the prizes involved. The complaint also stipulates that according to court testimony earlier this year, he had the technical ability and opportunity to tamper with the drawing equipment that picks the winning lottery numbers in order to make the numbers predictable.
The Iowa and Oklahoma jackpots were both won in the multi-state Hot Lotto game. The jackpots in Colorado and Wisconsin were won in different games offered only in those states. The Kansas jackpots also were won in a separate game.
From the beginning, we here at the Iowa Lottery have asked investigators to follow the evidence wherever it led to help get to the bottom of the situation. This latest development is another step in the process to protect lotteries, our games, our players and the billions of dollars at stake for the worthy causes that lotteries benefit.
Hi, Travis. You are correct that both ball-drawing machines and random-number generators are used in lottery drawings today. Both types of equipment have their own vulnerabilities, and there are provisions in place to provide security in both types of systems. The current case does show that no system is perfect and that any entity involved in a security-related field must be constantly vigilant while making ongoing security enhancements.
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | December 22, 2015 at 11:51 AM
Why are they using computers to generate numbers instead of using the ball's/machines like they use for Powerball?
Posted by: Travis Butler | December 22, 2015 at 09:46 AM
Hi, Adrianne. The charges in this case allege that there are criminal wrongdoing in the jackpot drawings that were involved, and prosecution of those involved in the incidents is now underway. The numbers in lottery drawings outside of these incidents are not predictable. That is why we don't know if there was a winner until after the drawings have occurred.
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | December 22, 2015 at 08:46 AM
So this does show that the lottery can be predictable with the knowledge of the winning numbers..That's why I'm sure a cutoff to see what number was not picked..please answer this question as so many people believe this..
Posted by: adrianne mcatee | December 21, 2015 at 06:05 PM