{"id":53995,"date":"2017-07-06T14:00:32","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T21:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=53995"},"modified":"2017-07-06T12:57:30","modified_gmt":"2017-07-06T19:57:30","slug":"new-york-confiscates-20-million-lottery-winnings-welfare-recipients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-york-confiscates-20-million-lottery-winnings-welfare-recipients\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Confiscates $20 Million in Lottery Winnings from Welfare Recipients"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York State has confiscated almost $20 million in lottery winnings over the past four years via a little-known clawback policy that targets winners on welfare.<\/p>\n

\"New
Win the New York State Lottery and you may have to pay it all back if you subsist on welfare payments. That\u2019s either a valuable lesson in the importance of work and personal responsibility or just plain mean, depending on your point of view. (Image: NY Lottery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many states deduct an individual\u2019s outstanding taxes or unpaid child support from a lottery payout but New York<\/a> is the one state that reclaims welfare payments too.<\/p>\n

Authorities can pounce on up to 50 percent of a windfall to recoup anything the claimant has received in welfare over the last decade.<\/p>\n

And since lottery winners of $600 and upwards must visit a state lottery center and proffer their Social Security numbers to claim their winnings, there\u2019s nowhere to hide.<\/p>\n

According to Syracuse.com, authorities have yanked payouts from under the noses of \u201clucky winners\u201d around 30,000 times.<\/p>\n

Black Market<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Syracuse.com found that a black market in winning tickets has sprung up as a result of the system, as winners sell lottery tickets<\/a> to third parties, or so-called \u201cdiscounting schemes,\u201d in an attempt avoid paying back money to the state.<\/p>\n

Last month, Neil Ferguson, 50, of Manhattan, and Eduardo Moran-Barrera, 63, of the Bronx, were charged with criminal tax fraud for operating such a scheme.<\/p>\n

Authorities became suspicious when they realized Moran had won the lottery 686 times since 2012, for a grand total of $1.48 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese arrests mark the first significant cases where, thanks to joint efforts of commission and New York state Tax & Finance investigators, we found individuals acting as \u2018discounters\u2019 to cover for others avoiding paying what\u2019s owed and filing taxes on the winnings,\u201d a gaming commission spokesman told the New York Post.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Easy Come, Easy Go<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cWe know all about [the program],\u201d a woman outside a lottery vendor told Syracuse.com, on condition the journalist by her a scratch-off ticket. \u201cIf we win, we give the lottery ticket to someone that works.” When asked her name, she demanded another scratch-off ticket in return for supplying the information.<\/p>\n

The clawback program was introduced in 1995 as part of a welfare reform package enacted by Governor George Pataki that was designed to \u201cemphasize work, personal responsibility and temporary assistance instead of permanent dependence.\u201d<\/p>\n

But many have suggested the system is a little\u2026 well, mean<\/em>, especially when you consider the disproportionate amount that the economically disadvantaged contribute to lottery ticket sales.<\/p>\n

A 2011 study found that the people in the lowest socioeconomic strata in the US had the highest levels of lottery participation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York State has confiscated almost $20 million in lottery winnings over the past four years via a little-known clawback policy that targets winners on welfare. Many states deduct an individual\u2019s outstanding taxes or unpaid child support from a lottery payout but New York is the one state that reclaims welfare payments too. Authorities can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":53996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew York Confiscates $20 Million in Lottery Winnings from Welfare Recipients<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New York is the only state that makes lottery winners pay back any welfare payments that have received within the last decade.\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-york-confiscates-20-million-lottery-winnings-welfare-recipients\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New York Confiscates $20 Million in Lottery Winnings from Welfare Recipients\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New York is the only state that makes lottery winners pay back any welfare payments that have received within the last decade.\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-york-confiscates-20-million-lottery-winnings-welfare-recipients\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-06T21:00:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-07-06T19:57:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/ny.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"285\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"284\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-york-confiscates-20-million-lottery-winnings-welfare-recipients\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-york-confiscates-20-million-lottery-winnings-welfare-recipients\/\",\"name\":\"New York Confiscates $20 Million in Lottery Winnings from Welfare Recipients\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-york-confiscates-20-million-lottery-winnings-welfare-recipients\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-york-confiscates-20-million-lottery-winnings-welfare-recipients\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/ny.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-06T21:00:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-06T19:57:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"New York is the only state that makes lottery winners pay back any welfare payments that have received within the last decade.\u00a0\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-york-confiscates-20-million-lottery-winnings-welfare-recipients\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-york-confiscates-20-million-lottery-winnings-welfare-recipients\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-york-confiscates-20-million-lottery-winnings-welfare-recipients\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/ny.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/ny.png\",\"width\":285,\"height\":284,\"caption\":\"Win the New York State Lottery and you may have to pay it all back if you subsist on welfare payments. 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