Atlantic Lottery Corp. not concerned about insider wins

Lottery jackpots won by retailers and other insiders in Atlantic Canadaare frequent but not a concern, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation says.

This week, CBC News reported thatalthough jackpot wins by insiders remain high in Atlantic Canada the Atlantic Lottery Corporation said it's not concerned.

"Reporting those numbers are the outcome of a process that was put in place for player protection and that process works," said Paula Dyke, director of public affairs for ALC.

Winnings connected to the corporation nearly tripled last year in Atlantic Canada.

In 2010-11, the non-arms length winners for big prizes jumped to 11.9 per cent compared to 4.3 per cent the previous year. That means that almost one in eight prizes worth more than $25,000 went to someone connected to ALC or its suppliers.

"Non-arm's length winners" is a term that refers to people who work for ALC or its suppliers, or people who own or work at stores that sell tickets or family members of the same group.

Maureen Tingley, a mathematician at the University of New Brunswick, called the jump "wacky" and said more explanation is needed.

Tom Campbell, a regular lottery player,said he likes to play, but in many years of trying has never won a big prize, even when he bought with a group.

"We had 10 guys at Coleson Cove. We bought tickets every week and the most we ever won was $700."

Lots of peoplehave won however, especially lottery retailers in Atlantic Canada who have won jackpots exceeding $10,000, on average three times a month for the last four years.

Former ALC president Michelle Carinci told reporters in 2007 that high rates of retailer wins were a concern and would be addressed.

ALC started tracking the number of "non-arms length" winners four years ago, after allegations that ticket sellers in Ontario were stealing the winning tickets.

In four years, those win rates have barely budged and theALC now said it's no longer a concern.

"Some of those numbers may fluctuate. What's important though is the process was put in place four or five years ago, we're following that process to the letter, and every single one of those individual wins that would be counted in that category have been verified,"Dyke said.

ALC said it is not sure how much money insiders have won over the last four years but with 146 jackpots over $10,000, it's clearly multi-millions, an amount the ALC still insists is not a concern.