In the future, the Ontario provincial government had better not complain about transfer payments and the like. That and fiscal responsibility must be after thoughts if they are willing to let someone steal 12.5 million and not one civil servant will lift a finger.

Signing tickets have come into effect because of this ordeal. The OLG has made some rules and changes because of this fraud. Now it's proven that she lied to OLG to claim the cash. And still you think that past is past?

That money could've been in your pocket legally/fair. I think 12.5 can help me with my finances.
Now I wished I had a relative whom worked at a convenience store to do the same... that way I can share this 12.5 amongst my family. If this family gets away with the prize money, might as well say they robbed our own pockets with no consequences.

It's a similar situation when some guy who took a penny out of every customer's account at a bank. He received approx. a million. He was still charged and put in bars for it.
We maybe responsible for checking our ticket, but you think it's fair that with all the proof that they have shown us that they are just the PAST?

The real solution is this: This is OLG's responsibility to make sure this doesn't happen. The money that is pooled in is from our own pockets, what do we pay OLG for? If they don't fix the kinks in the system.

The fifth estate does a great job. Linden MacIntyre speaks for the citizens and goes about it in his own way either because no one else is doing anything about it. Surprising people on the street help their case. Did you not notice how much the interviewee is lying out of her own teeth? Hassle? You're right what hassle has she had? Must be nice to be hassled with 12.5 in my bank. Read into the interviews and you'll see a different picture.

If this 12.5 doesn't get resolved or at least taken back to the rightful owner. I'm done with associating with the OLG or have anything to do with the OLG. Heck! We ,ripped-off citizens, made the games that OLG play, meaning without us they would have no corporation .. don't think we don't have the power to fight back. The only way to work on the future is to fix the past.

It was somewhat difficult to decipher from the show, but here's the fundamental issue: retailers who abuse the lottery system to either increase their chances of winning (i.e., stealing free tickets) or by stealing winnings directly by lying to the customer about the ticket value.

I think the solution is the responsibility of both the consumer and the corporation:

1. Consumers must protect themselves by signing their ticket, knowing in advance what they have won, and by retrieving their original ticket and validation receipt from the retailer, win or lose.

2. The lottery corporation must tighten the security of their system to make it more difficult for retailers to commit this type of crime. It's just a thought, but perhaps a customer ID card (drivers licence, etc.) could be scanned into the lottery machine when a ticket is validated, forever associating the date, time and winning with a specific person. Here's another idea - ensure that the lottery machine prints validation receipts and free tickets directly into the customers' hand.

I appreciate that the Fifth Estate brings issues such as this to public attention, but I dislike their format - accusatory finger pointing instead of practical solutions or advice. I find it particularly disgusting when they surprise people on the street - anybody would react with defensiveness when assaulted in this manner, guilty or otherwise. This gratuitous drama subtracts from the integrity of the reporting and makes me uncomfortable to watch.

One very important thing that isn't clear to me after watching this video is whether Miss Chung even knew what city she bought the ticket in. Anyone can forget at what store they bought a lottery ticket but no one is going to forget in what city it was purchased. Had she answered anything but St. Catharines, then clearly she would be lying. Maybe the police or OLG has this information, in which case it should be made public.

GREAT REPORTING!!

PLEASE CONTINUE WITH YOUR LOTTERY STORIES. SENIORS NEED TO BE BETTER PREPARED !!!

IS it just me... or isn't the entire story about the people who are public employees, being paid through our taxes or the lottery to protect and respect the integrity of the lotteries.

And in essense isnt this about all highy paid public servants and what they do or don't do... Hydro one comes to mind... get over the 12.5 million dollar winner... she claimed fair and square under the rules... but the big question is were the rules fair, and who was policing the rules..... we know the answer... but who is.. or really isn't accountable, and should have been.

People need to be accountable for fiasco's like this... so should the politicians who do the same... the naysayers who say the show was beating a dead horse, are probably the first people to complain when their shares in a stock go down a demand the CEO to resign... and then sue... your right , they did, now lets sue.. but who???

I believe all "alcohol & gaming" matters/issues in the province of Ontario fall under the jurisdiction of the OPP. How can the OPP undertake an unbiased investigation of itself?????

This is a total conflict of interest!! The investigation should be handled by an impartial third party, perhaps the RCMP.
It troubles me greatly that incidents like this continue to occur and the authorities that are responsible for protecting the integrity of the system do basically nothing to protect the interests of our citizens. All that was required was common sense and responsible action by the OLG.

I'd like to believe that this matter would have been resolved properly and expediently if the OLG faced the possibility of discontinuing the sale of lottery tickets immediately until the loopholes/irregularities were corrected. It's unfortunate that greed and "protectionism" are more important than common sense and integrity.

If I gambled would rather give my money to Tony Soprano, he is more honest than the crooks at OLG. If the profits from this fund were set up so a small community could have a hockey rink or a swimming pool ,it isn't happening. This is a bureaucracy gone wild with politicians putting their buddies in plum positions in the OLG .We has Canadians have to smarten up and realise this is just an idiot tax and we are just giving the government money to distribute to their buddies. Don't buy the tickets you won't win!!

When it comes to money Candians of the British tradition are very naieve. The management of the OLG are typical civil servant types, you know, goody two shoes Christians who are not business types at all.

That's why the Lottery Corporation was run in such a sleepy fashion. Can you believe that someone handed over a $12.5 million lottery ticket to a store clerk who took a couple of seconds to switch tickets, smile at the customer and say, sorry, not a winner! It actually happened because it was so easy to do - conscience be damned!

The naievte of the owner of that ticket is understandable because he/she trusted the machine and was probably handed a non-winning ticket thinking it was their own ticket being returned. It is laughably simple sleight of hand!!
Eliz. Canwell

What a disgrace!!! I sincerly hope the O.P.P does not let this case rest. In my opinion this family has committed fraud against every hardworking Canadian who has ever purchased a lotto ticket.

I believe intense pressure, or at very least a petition should be sent to the O.P.P to ensure that this criminal act is not put on the backburner. These people need to be held accountable for their criminal actions.

Gary Vachon, I like your idea. Really, who needs $25million dollars. I couldn't sleep with all that. It's pure greed. I would likely buy more tickets if I had a better chance of winning $1 million. Just enough to have a nest egg to keep me comfortable.

I cannot udnerstand why there is so much emphasis on who is a "rightful" owner. If say, my uncle out west buys me a ticket as a gift, it wins, is the rightful owner my uncle? Step it up, what if my uncle died before the draw date. Now I can no longer vouch that he gave it to me nor can I vouch to where that ticket was purchased. Lotterty tickets are always given as gifts and purchased who knows where and when.

It is time the OLG, OPP and Fifth Estate get a legal defintion of what is deemed a "rightful owner." Get that resolved and these problems will go away.

Simple! He/she who has the ticket in hand is the winner!

No wonder everybody I talk to, who has been playing for 20 years, tell me they haven't won a thing...gee now I know why.

Some comments suggest this is beating a dead horse but results of an investigation was just announced last week in Vancouver. The BC lottery corp did two investigations to search for problems and then said they were fixing the problem. Then a reporter had D & L do another audit and found 21 more cases of insiders with major "wins" including 5 retailers who were multiple winners.

This is not an isolated problem with one organization only. All retailers should be banned from playing the lottery and could receive a commission on all winning tickets and/or have more scanners for public use.

As another comment mentioned, I thought retailers received a commission but the 12.5 million retailer did not appear to receive anything. Also, the attitudes really seem different in different locales. In California when the corp suspected a fradulent claim by retailer, they went back to the security camera in the store and found person who purchased ticket and posted it on a website and charged the retailer with fraud.

Good Follow-up.

The OLG must be a great place to work since they do absolutely NOTHING. I'd like to know exactly what they do there.

As for the $12.5 million stolen from Canadians who pay into this lottery, the OLG should go after her and demand the money back. She defrauded the Canadian people, not the OLG. She just made them look stupid and lazy. It is totally obvious from last night's show that the OLG and the OPP are doing nothing to rectify the matter. They're like policitians, not giving a straight answer and passing the blame.

Okay, so let me get this straight... we put together special police forces to prevent "Organized" crime. I don't know about you but this theft totally smells like it was completely organized by this family. So, why are we letting them get away with GrandTheft????? Why are they above the law???????

This family's assests should be frozen by the gov't of Canada and then they should be charged with Grand Theft.

If the gov't took this type of stand then I'm sure we wouldn't see anymore Lottery Theft. Then the 5th Estate could do a show on a TRUE Lottery Winner!!!!

There is nothing like beating a dead horse. This show was a pitiful attempt at a followup to last year's show. Instead of showing all the "little stories" that you advertise and ask people to come forward with, why not do a show on all of the positive changes that have come out of this? Oh, wait, I know, because a title of "Look how OLG has improved" does not draw ratings. Well, unfortunately, last night didn't either! So, should we expect another "expose" next November in 2008? Move on!

I think it's a sad commentary on today's society that government constantly is called to protect people from their own actions/inactions and negligence. Our society continues to move towards a Big Brother state while incurring more and more costs that eventually hit our pocket via higher taxes.

A lottery ticket is no different than a bearer cheque, currency, gift certificate or bearer bond. You know it's worth, or potentially worth, some value. Take measures to protect your assets. Signing the back of the ticket has been the advice ever since I can remember, and it will protect you in the event the ticket is lost or stolen. If you don't follow that advice, your assets are at risk. A risk you choose to take! Therefore you have to live with the consequences of taking that risk. Seems simple to me.

With regard to the previous poster, I fail to see how "divvying up" larger prizes will solve the issue of very shady insider winnings. As I see it, more draws, more chances to rip off; smaller draws are not going to make people any more honest.

Last month a convenience store worker in New Brunswick has won his 3rd(!)big win. Apparently, he puts all his faith in God. Atlantic Lotteries have found that insiders win 10 times more often than anyone else. He may put his faith in god, but to me this smells like last Thursday's "catch of the day".

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2007/10/12/nb-lottery.html

Why is it so hard to call this THEFT of $12.5 million? Why is this country so complacent on so many fronts?

the o.l.g. is one of five lottery corporations across
the country and all have a large number of insider
wins. why are you not informing the public that the national lotteries are run by the inter-provincial
lottery corporation and are not under any scrutiny
because it was set set up to avoid any government control.
the public has been getting screwed for 25 years and it will continue until someone, hopefully you, does something about.

This was just a horrible show. The Fifth Estate has beaten the poor horse to death. This segment was absolutely a waste of time. Nothing new, nothing informative.

Move on CBC and examine topics that matter today, not a year ago. The OLG has implemented many new preventative methods to protect lotto winners. The show tonight was lacking. The CBC is desparate now. It was proven tonight.

Too many highly paid Public employees, have nothing to lose by not doing their jobs, or doing nothing. With the amount of money being discussed why shouldn't these people be held personally accountable for their actions/inactions.

Its our money we are losing, Its our taxes that pay these people, if they don't want, or care, what happens to it.. then lets take their money and see how they like it... and then let the OPP investigate!!!!!!!!!!!!

Instead of focusing on the fact someone, anyone, even perhaps me, lost out on the 12.5 million... and in all essance the OLG, is right that what was done was done, and look to making the future more secure...the woman who claimed the ticket was within the past rules and no one can honestly make any claim to the money ..BUT

Isn't the real story the fact that the previous "managment" of the lottery was negligent and it is they who should be ponying up the 12.5 million dollars PLUS that was payed out fraudulently to the so called inside winners.

If it wasn't for your show... this would still be going on, but the fact remains the previous OLG managment knew what was happening and chose not to take any action until your reports.

Why don't you do a follow up stating just how much the head of OLG makes, who he/she is accountable to , what the costs are of any previous investigations.... we can only blame the person at the top.. the buck stops somewhere, and if they aren't accountable then who is at the OLG???

This story makes me SICK!! How does this greedy woman sleep at night knowing what she has done!! I am embarrassed for her. Why has the real winner not self identified. The money should be revoked and donated to charity.

Caplan should be held accountable. It is so unreal that the key players who could win back the public's confidence would rather bury their sheepish heads.

Thank you 5th Estate for keeping the story alive. Come on Canada ...compliancy is not becoming. Caplan should be made to pay out of pocket...that might motivate him to do the right thing.

A friend & I have had the experience of a retailer either denying the ticket had won a prize and keeping the ticket in one case or in my case relenting when I insisted my numbers had won 2 prizes; $10.00 & a free ticket. How many small prizes like these have gone unnoticed and unreported?

The odds of the larger winnings by retailers are on record as being astronomically impossible. How many people have been ripped off here really? Who appointed the directors to the Ontario Lottery Corporation? What are they being paid for?

Nick, the Lottery outlet owner, said that the OLGC did not contact him.

I was led to believe that the outlet that issued a winning ticket was also awarded a prize.

Did he get one ???

Imagine how much effort would go into apprehending and prosecuting someone who robbed a bank of twelve million dollars, especially if they know who is spending that money.

I was just wondering why the reporter does not put this question to the lottery corporation. Why don't they make these special draws of theres either lotto 649 or super 7 smaller prizes for more people to win them.

Example instead of a prize of 25 million why not make 25 one million dollar draws so you have 25 one million dollar winners. I here of so many people talk about this. Why dont the lotto corporation poll people for such a case made after all we are the people putting our money in these draws every week. I beleive we should have a voice in how these draws should be put out.

Thank you