OLG says it 'has zero tolerance for illegal activities involving our … games'
Two female employees of a lottery retail outlet in Ontario were arrested and are facing charges for their alleged involvement in claiming of a prize from a stolen winning ticket, according to reports.
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG) alerted Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) on Dec. 14, 2023, of an alleged suspicious lottery win at a retail outlet in Mitchell, a municipality in West Perth.
It’s reported a 44-year-old Mitchell woman stole the winning ticket and a 51-year-old Stratford woman claimed the prize of $5,000.
The Stratford woman allegedly stole a pack of lottery scratch tickets on Sept. 13, 2023, from a woman and provided “false information” to the OLG to claim a lottery ticket, The London Free Press reported, citing court documents.
Previously, a former United Parcel Service (UPS) worker in Winnipeg was charged with multiple offenses for stealing Apple products worth about $1.9 million.
Lottery retail outlet employees charged
A spokesperson for the OLG said the lottery agency could not speak to the case as it was before the courts, according to Global News.
“However, OLG has zero tolerance for illegal activities involving our lottery games,” Tony Bitonti said in an email, according to the report.
“All prize claims over $1000 go through our Prize Claim Review process. This is where we are able to determine the rightful owner of the winning ticket.”
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For the incident, the Mitchell woman is charged with theft of more than $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime of more than $5,000. Meanwhile, the Stratford woman is charged with possession of stolen property of more than $5,000, according to both The London Free Press and Global News.
The two women were arrested last week and were released from custody. They are scheduled to appear in a Stratford court on July 8.
All prize claims at OLG over $1,000 go through a review process, according to the reports.
Previously, two school board divisions in Saskatchewan terminated two workers after their alleged involvement in crimes that led to the divisions losing more than $22,000.