Weekly Edition

W&L professor brings fraud suit against Virginia Lottery

Washington and Lee University professor Scott Hoover has sued the state over what he says was fraud in sales of scratch-off lottery tickets.

Scott Hoover alleges in the suit filed in Richmond Circuit Court by Roanoke attorney John Fishwick, that the lottery has taken in “millions of dollars in sales of tickets falsely promising the chance to win the top prize.”

Hoover alleges that the lottery, over the last five years, regularly failed to pull tickets from lottery games after all the top prizes were claimed. He estimates that the lottery gained at least $84.7 million in revenues from the knowing sale of losing tickets. The lawsuit, alleging breach of contract, asks the court to set up a claims procedure to return the money to players.

In a statement released June 11, lottery executive director Paula Otto acknowledged “a chance” that tickets from scratcher games remained on sale after the final top prizes were claimed. Otto said, however, that the practice ended in July 2007 and that the lottery is changing its rules to avoid the scenario in the future.

© Copyright 2009, by Virginia Lawyers Media, all rights reserved