Officials in Italy seized nearly $28 million in assets from five former lottery workers accused of ensuring friends and family got winning scratch-off tickets.
The Lazio Regional Prosecutor’s Office of the Court of Auditors alleges that the former employees, who have not been publicly named, manipulated the servers of their company to find four winning tickets, two worth over $7.8 million and two worth over $5.6 million, according to the Italian news outlet La Stampa.
The tickets were then purportedly sent to shops across Italy where they were purchased by friends and family of the five employees, according to La Stampa.
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The scheme goes back to at least 2020.
Italian authorities said they don’t believe the former employer of the five suspects was involved, according to La Repubblica.
In order to recover damages for the Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency, the Rome Financial Police seized 25 real estate properties across Italy and five vehicles, reported La Repubblica.
In addition to the seizure of their assets, the five suspects are facing criminal charges, according to global industry website iGaming Business.
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