News writer
A $95 million Texas Lottery jackpot was won in 2023 and now an investigation determined three Europeans have been linked to the winning ticket.
Third-highest jackpot in state history
In April 2023, a winning ticket was sold for Lotto Texas, which was at $95 million at the time. This happens to be the third-highest jackpot in state history.
The winning ticket was claimed under a New Jersey business named Rook TX LP in Scotch Plains. They opted for a one-time lump sum payment when claiming their winnings, so they received a payout of $57.8 million.
The winning ticket had been purchased at Hooked on MT, a lottery courier service located in Colleyville.
The investigation
The Houston Chronicle conducted an investigation, which determined a gaming entrepreneur operating out of Malta named Ade Repcenko happened to be the “point man” behind securing this huge win.
This enterprise was reportedly funded by a large London betting company called Colossus Bets. Evidence shows that Colossus Bets organizes buying these syndicates, which would make the legal lotto wagers.
Court documents obtained by The Chronicle state Phillip Gurian, owner of Honey Tree Trading, lent $1.3 million to an Austin-based online lottery sales company called Lottery.com.
According to Gurian, there was a gathering of Lottery.com executives at a Boca Raton mansion, which is where he met Repcenko, who admitted to winning the Texas jackpot.
Gurian said:
He told me he worked with a syndicate, and they pool money so that when lotteries get big enough, they buy up all the tickets and get a big return. He said, “We just did it in Texas.”
Texas Lottery Commission helped the operation
The Chronicle also reported that the Texas Lottery Commission helped the single-buyer operation to win that $95 million Lotto Texas jackpot.
Reports state retailers from Lottery.com — where people can buy Texas lottery tickets — had submitted urgent order requests to the lottery commission shortly before the drawing took place.
For a typical Lotto Texas drawing, there are between 1 million and 2 million tickets sold. However, there were over 28 million tickets sold for the $95 million jackpot drawing in April 2023.
A look into the second prize winning tickets determined that Rook TX allegedly spent $25 million on tickets for that drawing because Rook TX claimed 289 winning tickets, matching five of the six winning numbers.
The Chronicle claims the tickets Repcenko acquired for that drawing all came from Colossus Bets, which was founded by two professional gamblers, Zeljko Ranogajec and Bernard Marantelli.
When asked, Gregory Potts, the COO at Lottery.com, said he could neither confirm nor deny Colossus Bets' involvement in the April 2023 game, according to The Chronicle.
However, they did review an internal email from Potts, who told the company, “We should not mention anything about Lotto Texas wholesale operations in the US.”
The COO added, “This type of business is legal and compliant but is not something we publicize. It is considered cheating by lottery players, and we do not want to raise attention to it.”
Enjoy playing the Texas Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
Comments