Is the Texas Lottery an arm of organized crime that ought to be abolished completely? That’s the allegation Texas State Senator Bob Corridor made at a gathering of the Senate Committee on State Affairs earlier this week. Corridor backed up his proposal with the introduction of SB 1988, which might shut down the Texas Lottery Fee and controlled lottery video games throughout the state.
So how does the State of Texas have each a Lottery Fee and a lottery system that’s tainted by organized crime? Corridor’s view on the topic is closely tainted by a 2023 scandal wherein a bunch of people spent an eye-popping $23 million to buy 99 p.c of predicted lottery numbers in a Texas Lottery draw. The group’s efforts paid off with a $96 million payday whose validity remains to be being challenged in courtroom. Members of the group that spearheaded the majority lottery buy have denied any wrongdoing within the matter.
Within the wake of the scandal, Texas Lottery Fee Govt Director Ryan Mindell resigned his place and digital lotteries couriers got here underneath better scrutiny.
Senator Corridor pointed to digital lottery courier as a component of organized crime within the matter in feedback reported on by GamblingIndustryNews.com saying, “The courier firms had been the intermediary between the teams and superior lottery fee officers had been intentionally detached. At worst, they had been co conspirators within the vastest monetary crime since Enron.”
The timeline for passing SB 1988, and doing away completely with the Texas Lottery, and the invoice will both cross into regulation or stall in committee inside the subsequent week.
