Man wins the lottery 5 times after successfully rigging it

A man won the lottery five times after successfully rigging the system in the largest scam of its kind in US history.

They say that lightning never strikes twice but for Eddie Tipton, the mastermind of one of the largest lottery scams in history, he was able to make sure he won the lottery five times.

Tipton’s illegal scheme started in December 2010 when he bought a ticket for the $14.3 million lottery jackpot at a convenience store in Des Moines, Iowa.

The odds of him winning should have been around one in a million like every other player. But Tipton, a lottery security official, knew he had a much better chance of raking in the huge jackpot.

Tipton had created a cryptic computer code in 2005, which would allow him to massively shrink the odds of picking the winning lottery numbers in his favour. And, court documents show Tipton did this in at least five states across the country.

Thanks to the code, Tipton won the $14.3 million jackpot but he waited a year until he attempted to claim it anonymously, claiming he was collecting it on behalf of an anonymous off-shore trust company in Belize.

But, under Iowa laws, a lottery winner is not permitted to claim the jackpot anonymously, so his claim was rejected.

A later investigation brought to light CCTV footage of Tipton purchasing a lottery ticket which led to his arrest for two counts of fraud.

It was revealed that on another occasion Tipton won the lottery and ten years prior, his brother had also won it in Colorado. Another two individuals also won the lottery with the help of Tipton.

He was found guilty on both counts in July 2015 and was sentenced to ten years in prison. In July 2022, Tipton was granted early release after a parole appeal.

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