A Texas man is suing the state’s lottery, claiming he lost millions due to an elaborate fraud scheme tied to a separate $95 million jackpot. Jerry B. Reed, who won $7.5 million in Lotto Texas, alleges that his payout was reduced because of illegal activity linked to an earlier win in April 2023.
That $95 million prize was claimed by a group operating under the name Rook TX. The group is now under investigation for an alleged international money laundering and game-rigging operation. Reed’s lawsuit, filed after his May 2023 win, accuses the scheme of diminishing the total prize pool and unfairly impacting his own winnings.
According to the lawsuit, three founders of lottery.com and a betting platform called Colossal Bets coordinated the scheme. They allegedly worked with both U.S. and international players, a London-based company, and four Texas lottery retailers. Together, they reportedly purchased 25.8 million tickets using software that created fake QR codes. These codes tricked Texas Lottery machines into treating them as legitimate, allowing for fast and mass ticket printing.
When the winning numbers were drawn on April 22, 2023, the group hit the $95 million jackpot. They also claimed thousands of smaller prizes totaling over $60 million. The lawsuit calls the operation “one of the most significant lottery rigging cases in U.S. history.”
Texas lawmakers are now questioning the future of the Lottery Commission. “We cannot renew the Lottery Commission if we can’t trust it,” said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. He warned that if integrity can’t be guaranteed, the state might shut down the entire lottery system.
