Lotto Con Cheats Players out of Millions

In one of the biggest scandals to surface since the lottery was introduced in Germany, a German firm has been accused of cheating thousands of players out of millions of euros. The company, Deutsche System Lotto GmbH, convinced an estimated 8,000 individuals throughout Germany to enter into contracts that guaranteed a payout of up to €125,000 ($137,000) if they did not win a ‘fiver’ or ‘sixer’ lottery draw within a year. The contracts stipulated that players pay from €7 to €700 weekly into a pool, funds from which were supposed to be used to play the lottery. District attorneys investigating the case say no more than €5,000 of the pool’s money actually went to lottery tickets. They suspect some €1.5 million went directly into the pockets of the firm’s management, six of which are now in police custody.