{"id":94103,"date":"2018-12-09T06:00:12","date_gmt":"2018-12-09T14:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=94103"},"modified":"2018-12-07T15:38:27","modified_gmt":"2018-12-07T23:38:27","slug":"loto-quebec-scammed-out-of-massive-sum-kept-quiet-for-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/loto-quebec-scammed-out-of-massive-sum-kept-quiet-for-months\/","title":{"rendered":"Million Dollar Casino Fraud: Loto-Quebec Scammed Out of Massive Sum, Kept Quiet for Months"},"content":{"rendered":"

Loto Quebec is investigating a scam which saw it defrauded out of $1 million dollars, information that the province\u2019s government-run gaming outlet kept under wraps for months.<\/p>\n

\"Loto-Quebec\"
Montreal\u2019s Casino du Lac-Leamy was reportedly taken for a million dollars by scammers this summer. (Image: Loto-Quebec)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The report from Le Journal de Montreal<\/em> is calling it \u201cpossibly the largest scam known in the history of the Lotto.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The perpetrators apparently knew what they were doing, as officials say they\u2019ve pulled the same shakedown at other casinos across the country.<\/p>\n

Last August, the Casino du Lac-Leamy was the victim of a subterfuge in the form of two payments by bank draft not cleared by a financial institution,”<\/strong> Loto-Quebec spokesman Renaud Dugas told the Journal.<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The newspaper suggests that it took two people to execute the fraud. One would play the part of a high-roller and request a cash advance from the casino, claiming it was guaranteed by his bank.<\/p>\n

His accomplice would profess to represent the bank and would authorize the cash transaction, although it\u2019s not clear whether they would do so from the casino or over the phone. It’s also uncertain whether it happened in one transaction, or over the course of several.<\/p>\n

Either way, the simple hoax allowed the scammers to disappear with C$1 million (USD $750,000).<\/p>\n

Keeping Quiet<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Was it really that easy to make off with a million from a casino?<\/p>\n

Loto-Quebec officials are revealing no other details around the scheme, and in fact, they never reported it at all until the newspaper started asking questions.<\/p>\n

The incident is alleged to have taken place in August.<\/p>\n

\n

Police have since arrested a man from Brampton, Ontario, just outside of Toronto. The 52-year-old is facing charges of fraud and using forged documents and is scheduled to make a court appearance on December 12.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Investigators say they\u2019re probing as many as a dozen other suspects, and more arrests could be forthcoming. The group has apparently pulled off other successful scams in Ontario, but were thwarted by casino staff in Alberta and British Colombia.<\/p>\n

Taking the Fall<\/b><\/h2>\n

While Loto-Quebec officials insist that their employees weren\u2019t in on the deceit, they apparently weren\u2019t doing their jobs properly.<\/p>\n

Lotto’s Dugas says that an internal investigation revealed that some employees did not \u201crespect the rigorous processes in place.\u201d As a result, they have been disciplined by the casino, \u201cup to and including dismissal.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the August arrest, officials have not confirmed whether the stolen money was ever recovered.<\/p>\n

Loto-Quebec has already been in the headlines for the wrong reasons in 2018. The government-run gaming outlet sparked outrage<\/a> when it tried to force internet service providers (ISPs) to block all other gaming sites in the province, which would give it an effective monopoly.<\/p>\n

That bid was called unconstitutional by the province\u2019s Supreme Court, which struck down Loto’s claim<\/a> earlier this year.<\/p>\n

However, the corporation remains undeterred. Despite the loss in court, Loto-Quebec is appealing the decision<\/a> in a bid to ensure it has the local gaming market all to itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Loto Quebec is investigating a scam which saw it defrauded out of $1 million dollars, information that the province\u2019s government-run gaming outlet kept under wraps for months. The report from Le Journal de Montreal is calling it \u201cpossibly the largest scam known in the history of the Lotto.\u201d The perpetrators apparently knew what they were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":94104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,10,18,13699],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLoto-Quebec, Scammed out of Massive Sum, Kept Quiet for Months<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Loto-Quebec officials have conceded that fraudsters managed to make off with a million dollars from the Casino du Lac-Leamy this summer, leading to the arrest of one man.\" \/>\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\/loto-quebec-scammed-out-of-massive-sum-kept-quiet-for-months\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Loto-Quebec, Scammed out of Massive Sum, Kept Quiet for Months\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Loto-Quebec officials have conceded that fraudsters managed to make off with a million dollars from the Casino du Lac-Leamy this summer, leading to the arrest of one man.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/loto-quebec-scammed-out-of-massive-sum-kept-quiet-for-months\/\" \/>\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=\"2018-12-09T14:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-07T23:38:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/casino-lle.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1008\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cort Smith\" \/>\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=\"Cort Smith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/loto-quebec-scammed-out-of-massive-sum-kept-quiet-for-months\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/loto-quebec-scammed-out-of-massive-sum-kept-quiet-for-months\/\",\"name\":\"Loto-Quebec, Scammed out of Massive Sum, Kept Quiet for Months\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/loto-quebec-scammed-out-of-massive-sum-kept-quiet-for-months\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/loto-quebec-scammed-out-of-massive-sum-kept-quiet-for-months\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/casino-lle.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-09T14:00:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-07T23:38:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/20db7dec4c6b349b19992217f9a7df7d\"},\"description\":\"Loto-Quebec officials have conceded that fraudsters managed to make off with a million dollars from the Casino du Lac-Leamy this summer, leading to the arrest of one man.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/loto-quebec-scammed-out-of-massive-sum-kept-quiet-for-months\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/loto-quebec-scammed-out-of-massive-sum-kept-quiet-for-months\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/loto-quebec-scammed-out-of-massive-sum-kept-quiet-for-months\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/casino-lle.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/casino-lle.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1008,\"caption\":\"Montreal\u2019s Casino du Lac-Leamy was reportedly taken for a million dollars by scammers this summer. 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