Internal investigations find Kansas Lottery gaming systems secure, official says
The Iowa Attorney General’s Office filed a criminal case update Monday against an Iowa man for allegedly manipulating Multi-State Lottery Association Random Number Generator equipment in Iowa and then purchasing two tickets in Kansas that ended up winning top prizes.
The Iowa agency on Monday informed the Kansas Lottery that charges involving a December 2010 incident would be added this week in Iowa to an ongoing criminal conduct and money laundering case against Eddie Tipton.
“No issue is more important to the Kansas Lottery than the security of our games and gaming systems,” Kansas Lottery Executive Director Terry Presta said. “Neither Mr. Tipton nor MUSL have direct access to the Kansas Lottery’s internal gaming systems.
“However, when we became aware of Mr. Tipton’s actions while employed by MUSL, like most lottery jurisdictions that work with MUSL, the Kansas Lottery began an in-depth internal analysis and investigation into whether his activities affected the Kansas Lottery or its players. Those investigations have so far not revealed any indications that Mr. Tipton affected the Lottery’s internal systems, security of its games, or manipulated any internal drawings performed by the Kansas Lottery.”
Director Presta continued, “The Kansas Lottery’s investigations are ongoing as more information becomes available from Iowa as to the extent of Mr. Tipton’s alleged criminal acts. We will continue to look for any possible intrusions into our gaming systems. The integrity of our games and security to our players remains paramount.”
Earlier this month, as a part of its ongoing criminal investigation, the state of Iowa asked the Kansas Lottery to examine two specific claims made for prizes from December of 2010 regarding its “2by2” game. “2by2” is a RNG game, administered and drawn by MUSL in Iowa.
As a part of this joint criminal investigation, it was discovered that an individual, believed to be Eddie Tipton himself, bought two “2by2” tickets while traveling through the State of Kansas in December of 2010. Those two tickets were “winning” tickets and entitled to claim a prize of $22,000 each.
Tipton then allegedly gave these two “winning” tickets to two separate individuals to claim on his behalf. Both of those prizes were claimed and paid, one by an individual from Iowa, and one by an individual from Texas.
“2by2” is a multi-state game that pays all winners. It is not a “jackpot” style game that excludes any other winners from claiming a grand prize or pays the grand prize on a pro-rata basis. Any player with the winning numbers for the day in question would have been awarded a prize of $22,000.
“To reiterate, the Kansas Lottery’s internal analysis and investigation so far have found no intrusions into its systems,” Presta said. “Today’s charges in Iowa allege an individual purchased two tickets at separate locations within the state of Kansas, but the possible manipulation of those tickets or winning numbers was done outside of the state. The Kansas Lottery had no way of knowing that Mr. Tipton was purchasing these tickets, nor that any manipulations of the MUSL RNG in Iowa might have occurred.”
The Kansas Lottery continues its investigation into this incident, and will refer it in its entirety to the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, which upon completion of its investigation, will determine if any additional charges from the December 2010 incident are warranted within the state of Kansas.