Illinois Refuses To Pay More Than $288 Million In Lottery Winnings

Lottery winners in Illinois are enraged after the state failed to pay their winning tickets.

According to AWM, a number of lottery winners in Illinois are seeking legal help after the state refused to pay out their winnings, adding up to roughly $228 million in unpaid tickets.

The state of Illinois blames their inability to pay for the winnings on a “budget crisis.” The state has refused to pay anybody who has won more than $600 from a lottery ticket.

According to the Chicago Tribune, two lottery winners filed a federal lawsuit against the Illinois Lottery. The state continued to sell tickets despite its inability to pay prizes.

“How the heck can they do this, and they’re still selling tickets?” Homer Glen, Illinois, resident Rhonda Rasche, who is waiting to be paid the $50,000 she won from a $3 scratch-off ticket. “If I was the one selling raffle tickets and I didn’t pay, I would be sued or in jail or both.”

Rasche went to the lottery office to cash in her ticket, where she was given the news that she would not be making any money.

“I feel like my balloon was kind of deflated,” she added. “I wasn’t totally baking on the money but it was pretty crushing. I just feel like it’s totally unfair.”

Rasche teared up as she said during a press conference that she had planned to use her money for home improvements, new furniture, and a vacation for her best friend and her best friend’s sister, who had nursed her mother while she battled a terminal illness.

Another winner, Susan Rick, told Inside Edition that she is owed thousands from the state.

“We won. We can finally have a comfortable life. Suddenly you’re gonna pull the rug out from under us,” Rick said. “We had a ticket for $250,000.”

A group of Chicago city employees put money into a lottery pool and won $1 million, but have not seen a cent of their winnings.

Rasche and Danny Chasteen, her co-plaintiff who won $250,000 from the state, are among a group of more than two dozen lottery winners awaiting a combined total of $288 million in prizes. 

The lawsuit accuses the state lottery of committing fraud by continuing to advertise and sell tickets, despite its inability to pay out prizes. The state continued to pay the wages of Lottery Director B.R. Lane, however. 

“If any private business would engage in this kind of conduct selling tickets and not paying out the winner, the state would shut down and indict them for fraud,” said attorney Tom Zimmerman, who is representing some of the winners.

Sources: AWM, Chicago Tribune / Photo Credit: Inside Edition via AWM