[V]ermont’s lottery director said Thursday that he would submit a review of the system’s integrity to the governor by the end of the month, following a VTDigger investigation that revealed unusual winning patterns by some store owners, employees and family members.
Both Gov. Phil Scott and senators have moved this week to have the findings in the article — which found that some people working at lottery outlets, or their relatives, had racked immense winnings from 2011 to 2016 — investigated to find out whether the fairness of the lottery has been somehow compromised.
Scott said during a press conference on Thursday that he expected Daniel Rachek, executive director of the state lottery, to complete a review and have a report to him within three weeks, or the end of the month at the latest.
“If there’s anyone that we have that can take a look at this and make sure the integrity is in place and we are doing things properly or there are changes to be made, it is him,” Scott said of Rachek, who was the state’s top FBI agent before taking over the lottery.
Rachek said in an interview later in the day that he thought that was a realistic timeline. He said the lottery already had information about who has won past prizes, so much of the investigation would involve analyzing that data. He said he would also seek “some opinions” from those involved in the lottery.
The director also said he would explore whether there were problems in oversight of the system and the technology Vermont lottery operators were using — “not to say that we have any of these issues here.”
“Some of the issues raised in the article I will take a look at,” he added.
Rachek initially said that he did not believe the data laid out in the VTDigger investigation suggested anything strange, arguing that highly successful players needed to be looked at in the context of total winnings paid out by the lottery. He said on Thursday that he had not seen any evidence of wrongdoing, but wanted to maintain public trust in the system.
“I don’t want the public to have the perception that we don’t care about the lottery and people winning,” he said.
Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, on Wednesday proposed an amendment to a bill that merges the liquor and lottery commissions. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the amended bill this week.
It calls on the commissioner of the new combined body to investigate possible irregularities in lottery winnings and report back to the Senate by Oct. 1.
Ashe said part of the idea was to bring “fresh eyes” to the situation after Rachek and Lottery Commission Chairperson Sabina Haskell expressed little concern about the findings.
“You generally don’t want to legislate by news story,” Ashe said in an interview Wednesday, “but the issues raised in the story definitely have the effect of undermining the confidence about how things are being administered.”
The governor said on Thursday that he supported the intent of the Senate bill, but didn’t think it was necessary.
“If they pass something it’s of no consequence in one respect because we’re doing it anyhow,” Scott said. “Regardless of what they pass I’ve asked Director Rachek to get involved and start the process, so I’m confident he’ll do so in an effective and efficient way.”
VTDigger’s investigation, published on Sunday, found that at least 117 retailers, or those close to them, had won a major lottery prize — defined as $600 or more, between 2011 and 2016. Collectively, they won nearly $1.8 million.
In addition, employees at 29 convenience stores claimed more than $1.4 million in prizes from stores they worked at, or formerly worked at, or from neighboring outlets. At least five of the state’s 25 most prolific winners over this stretch were current or former convenience store employees or owners.
While there has been at least one case of an employee being prosecuted for gaming the system by inflating bottle redemption receipts to buy lottery tickets, in most cases VTDigger did not find conclusive evidence of wrongdoing.
A nationwide project by PennLive sought to explain how certain individuals were gaming the system.
In some jurisdictions, cashiers were ringing up sales for popular items like beer and gasoline as lottery purchases and then grabbing a corresponding amount of tickets. Other players were found to be cashing claims for others to help them avoid paying child-support judgments or other government debts that would wipe out their winnings.
One Vermont woman, Penny Durant, made at least 111 claims worth $500 or more from 2011 to 2017 and won more than $300,000 during a period when she or family members worked at stores in and around Hardwick.
In the case of Durant and others, the odds of their repeated winning were so low that it seems something more than good fortune was at play, according to experts who reviewed lottery data compiled by VTDigger.
“It’s just too lucky,” University of California-Berkeley statistics professor Phillip Stark said of the winning ways of Julie Messier, who won at least 30 instant tickets of $500 or more from 2011 to 2016.
Stark found that Messier and everyone else in Vermont would have to spend $363,000 to have even a one-in-a-million chance of winning as often as Messier did.
“It’s not very likely you’ll get a big prize,” said University of Toronto statistics professor Jeff Rosenthal. “Winning $100 more than once is very unlikely.”
Some of Vermont’s most successful players have claimed at least $1,000 on numerous occasions.
