DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The fraud trial for a former lottery worker accused of buying a Hot Lotto ticket and setting up a scheme to try to cash it in is scheduled to begin Monday.
Eddie Tipton of Norwalk faces two counts of fraud. He was arrested in January after authorities claimed he had bought the ticket in December 2010. It was worth about $14 million. The jackpot went nearly a year without being claimed until a New York lawyer tried to get the prize on behalf of an undisclosed ticket owner. He eventually dropped the claim.
Iowa doesn’t award lottery prizes anonymously.
Authorities traced the convenience store ticket purchase to Tipton.
As director of information security for the Multi-State Lottery Association based in Des Moines, Tipton wasn’t allowed to play or win prizes.
