news-record.com

People who run state lotteries deal with good luck every day, but too much of it ought to raise questions.

An examination of lottery records by a Charlotte television station turned up examples of exceedingly good fortune, or something more suspicious:

"Some of the same people who sell North Carolina Education Lottery tickets are also winning -- and winning big -- $100,000, $300,000 and almost $500,000 in prizes," NewsChannel 36 reported last week.

That information raises huge concerns. It hints that some retailers, somehow, are taking advantage of their position to increase their chances of winning. And, if that's possible, it can undermine the confidence the public needs to have in the lottery's integrity. People won't play if they think someone else has stacked the odds.

It's happened in other states. In March, Minnesota lottery investigators charged five retailers and three accomplices with fraud after an undercover sting operation found them allegedly trying to cash customers' winning tickets for themselves.

California launched a series of sting operations last year, which resulted in charges against retailers in several cities.

In Iowa last month, the state ombudsman reported that lottery officials don't adequately protect customers from fraud and theft by retailers. He said the state has maintained a weak and reactive enforcement system that fails to detect retailer dishonesty independently of customer complaints, adding that at least nine retailers and store employees have collected five or more major lottery prizes.

North Carolina lottery enforcement also is reactive, Executive Director Tom Shaheen admitted last week. But that's going to change.

"We're putting some enhanced investigative processes in place," he said, declining to give details.

He added that lottery workers try to track retailers who win often. Currently, there are only six who have won more than four times. Altogether, retailers make up just over 1 percent of total winners.

The multiple winners identified by NewsChannel 36 have not escaped his notice, Shaheen said. Examinations of store records have found all tickets have been paid for. Retailers are allowed to play the lottery, Shaheen said, and some play a lot. But there's no way they can know ahead of time which tickets are winners.

It's detrimental to the state's interest to allow any lottery fraud. If it has occurred in other states, it's possible in North Carolina. So investigative methods that have been effective elsewhere should be employed here.

There's no reason to prohibit retailers and employees from buying lottery tickets in their own stores -- most probably lose most of the time like everyone else. There is a critical necessity, however, to make sure that everyone who plays has an equally fair chance to win. That means fraud must be detected and prosecuted. In this game, only the lucky should win.