Punter ‘conned National Lottery out of at least £2.5million with deliberately damaged ticket’

A PUNTER may have scammed the National Lottery out of at least £2.5million with a dodgy ticket, it has been revealed.

Camelot has been fined £3million after paying out a prize on a "deliberately damaged ticket".

Gambling Commision bosses handed down the fine over the 2009 "con", which was only discovered six years later in 2015.

The commission would not confirm how much Camelot paid out, but said that the £3million penalty included £2.5 million "to represent the amount that would have been received by good causes had the prize claim not been paid".

It said while the investigation "could not be certain a fraud had taken place, it was more likely than not a fraudulent claim had been paid out".

Andy Duncan, Camelot chief executive, apologised, saying: "We accept that, at the time, there were some weaknesses in some of the specific controls relevant to this incident and we're very sorry for that."

The watchdog's chief executive, Sarah Harrison, said "The Gambling Commission's chief concern is to ensure the National Lottery is run with integrity and that player interests are protected.

"Camelot's failures in this case are serious and the penalty package reflects this. Importantly, the package also ensures that good causes will not lose out as a result of Camelot's licence breach.

"Lottery players can feel reassured that our investigations have found no evidence of similar events happening and that controls are in place today to mitigate against future prize payout failings of this type."

Police decided to take no further action over the alleged fraud, Camelot said.

Duncan added: "It's really important that people understand that this allegation relates to a unique, one-off incident dating back to 2009 and involves a potentially fraudulent claim on a deliberately damaged ticket. It has nothing to do with the National Lottery draws themselves.

"We've strengthened our processes significantly since 2009 and are completely confident that an incident of this nature could not happen today. We welcome the Gambling Commission's confirmation that this is the case."

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