Lotto Texas Event 4/22/23

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On Wednesday April 19, 2023 the Lotto Texas lottery game drawing produced no winners making  for a remarkable 7 months in a row without a Lotto Texas winner.  The next Lotto Texas drawing was taking place 72-hours later, on Saturday April 22, 2203.  The jackpot had soared to $95 million, the highest lottery jackpot in America at that time.  On Thursday, April 20, Friday April 21, and Saturday April 22 Lottery.com, working in unison with 3 other courier services, printed tickets for almost every possible combination for the Lotto Texas lottery. Close to 26 million tickets were printed in less than 72-hours.  Houston Chronicle investigative reports show that IGT, the State of Texas official supplier of lottery ticket terminals, delivered dozens of lottery ticket machines and installed them at a Lottery.com location that was not a normal lottery retail outlet.  Texas law states all lottery retailers must have the lottery ticket machines in a bricks and mortar business, open to the general public, selling things other than just lottery tickets.  IGT installed dozens of terminals in locations that apparently did not meet this criteria.  The Texas Lottery Commission reinstated Lottery.com's retailer license before the Lotto Texas event, despite the fact the company had publicly disclosed it had been selling lottery tickets illegally across state lines from 2019-2022 while operating out of Texas.  Lottery.com had also ceased operations and laid off its employees in July of 2022 when it ran out of money.  Lottery.com was also apparently allowed to print the Lotto Texas lottery tickets into the many millions of tickets without having the required "sweep" bank account connected to the Texas Comptroller.  This means the State of Texas Lottery Commission seems to have allowed Lottery.com to print millions of tickets on credit, with no guarantees what so ever that Texas would actually be paid for the millions of Lotto Texas tickets being printed.  In fact, it was not until the following week that the Texas Lottery Commission requested that Lottery.com wire transfer millions of dollars to the Texas Lottery Commission for payment of the Lotto Texas tickets printed the previous week. It was disclosed by Lottery.com employees who were present during the ticket printing process for the Lotto Texas event that two of the former founders of Lottery.com, including one who had been terminated for cause for running the 2019-2022 illegal lottery ticket sales scheme, where present during the Lotto Texas ticket printing spree along with family members.  Despite the fact that Lottery.com testified in a Nasdaq hearing just days after the Lotto Texas event that it had "separated itself completely from the prior management and founders", while blaming those founders for the companies demise, the fact is those very founders apparently where in the "room" helping to print the Lotto Texas tickets and apparently communicating with the Texas Lottery Commission to allow the Lotto Texas event to occur.  It was disclosed by Lottery.com employees that specially designed Ipads and specially created QR codes were delivered to Texas for the Lotto Texas event.  This QR code scheme apparently interfaced with the optical scanners of the Texas Lottery Terminals to allow for the 26 million +/- Lotto Texas combinations to be uploaded into the Texas Lottery terminals in a way not available to regular lottery players in Texas.  Those present have stated that 1 person operated 3 Texas Lottery Terminals during the ticket printing scheme.  Lottery.com's COO appears to have sent a text message out on Thursday, April 21, 2023 to Ronald Farah telling him essentially that the "Texas ticket printing was going great and that Lottery.com should exceed 8 million tickets printed".  There is a law in Texas that states that no third party software or hardware shall be connected to any Texas Lottery terminal, directly or wirelessly,  without permission of the Lottery Commission.  The law states that any tickets printed in this manner would be "void".  The Texas Lottery Commission has stated they gave no permission to Lottery.com or any ticket courier involved in the Lotto Texas event permission to use third party devices.  The combined efforts of Lottery.com, Alt X, and the other couriers resulted in almost every possible combination of Lotto Texas numbers being printed.  The result was a single winning ticket being printed, worth $57.7 million on lump sum payout. In June of 2023 an anonymous corporation was formed in Delaware named ROOK TX. The Oxford dictionary defines the word "Rook" to mean to defraud, overcharge, or swindle.  Less than two weeks after forming "Rook TX" a lawyer appeared in Texas on behalf of Rook TX to claim the $57.7 million jackpot.  The State of Texas also allowed ROOK TX to cash in dozens of prizes valued at under $1 million from the Lotto Texas drawing, including many 5 out of 6 winners worth $1,500.00 each. These winning tickets are worth less than $1 million but were allowed to keep the beneficial owner anonymous, seemingly in contradiction with Texas statute 466.411. The Houston Chronicle reported that a UK based company named Colossus Bets was the "buyer" of the 26 million +/- Lotto Texas tickets.  What is known is that millions of dollars flowed from the escrow accounts of a U.S. based law firm on Thursday, April 20 and Friday, April 21, 2023 into Lottery.com accounts.  Sharon McTurk, who has a pending $1.8 million alleged fraud law suit against Lottery.com and its CEO, was asked in May of 2023 to wire transfer $35,000 to the same law firm for "Lottery.com legal bills" which she did on May 24, 2023. The week after the Lotto Texas event close to $25 million of the funds sent into the U.S., apparently  through Colossus Bets , was delivered to the Texas Comptroller for the Lotto Texas ticket purchases by Lottery.com, Alt X, and the other affiliated couriers who worked collectively to print the 26 million +/- Texas Lotto tickets in the 72-hours preceding the April 22, 2023 Lotto Texas drawing.  All of the Lotto Texas jackpot prize money profits awarded to Rook TX ($57.7 million lump sum) in June of 2023 came out of the pockets of the millions of Texas citizens and residents who had purchased Lotto Texas lottery tickets in the 7-months prior to the April 22, 2023 Lotto Texas drawing in the hopes of winning the jackpot.  The amount of money that apparently  left Lottery.com that occurred in 2 events between when it went public on Nasdaq in November of 2021 and when it ceased operations for lack of funds in July of 2022 ads up to about $25,000,000.  $16.5 million was reportedly transferred out of the company to a fraud company named J Streiker by one of the founders, and a Mexican subsidiary reportedly worth no more than $2 million was bought for $11 million ($9 million alleged overpayment that may never had been made according to DOJ indictment documents).  Then in May of 2022 the three founders allegedly deceived a church in California, under the auspice of a 7-day loan, to wire $2.7 million to the Lottery.com bank.  A lawsuit is pending against Lottery.com and the three founders by the church.  When adding the $2.7 million taken from the church to the J Streiker $16.5 million and the $9 million overpayment for Mexican subsidiary purchase the total comes to just over $27 million, which ironically as about exactly what was needed to purchase every Lotto Texas ticket combination. It has been suggested multiple Texas statutes were violated during the Lotto Texas events, including statutes that are felonies if violated.  There are Federal Statutes pertaining to lottery and money laundering that also need to be reviewed in relation to the Lotto Texas April 2023 events.

On January 7, 2025, the Sunset Advisory Committee released a report on the Texas Lottery Commission staff.  A copy is shown below. This report was extremely critical of the decision making and actions of former Texas Lottery Commissioner Gary Grief.