Dad and Daughter Fined Millions for Stealing $9.5m Winning Lottery Ticket

In a major Canadian lottery fraud case, a dad-daughter duo was fined $4.5m for stealing a winning lottery ticket in Toronto. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

A dad-daughter duo in the Toronto area has been sentenced to seven and four years in prison respectively and fined $3.5 million ($4.6m Canadian) for stealing a winning lottery ticket back in 2003.

Jun-Chul Chung, 68, worked in a Variety Plus convenience store that was run by Kenneth Chung, Jun-Chul’s son, in Burlington, Ontario. Kathleen Chung, 36, is Kenneth’s brother and Jun-Chul’s daughter.

Kenneth was also sentenced to 10 months in prison, according to BBC.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLGC) then tracked down the actual ticket winner, Daniel Campbell, in 2011. He and six of his coworkers, who were part of a lottery pool, finally got their full $9.5m ($12.5m Canadian) earnings, plus interest.

Campbell purchased the Super 7 ticket after a ticket purchased earlier won him five free plays. Jun-Chul stole the winning ticket after finding out that one of the five plays was a winner.

Kathleen then turned in the ticket for her father at the prize center. According to CBC news, the family also tried to transfer their millions to offshore accounts.

Over the period of a year, the family transferred over a quarter of the money overseas, most of which went to 17 different bank accounts in Seoul, South Korea. Many of the accounts were in the name of Jun-Chul Chung.

“The OLG proceeds flowed through these various accounts and were reconciled into both personal and business accounts held at the Korea Exchange Bank in the name of Kathleen Chung, Kenneth Chung, Jun-Chul Chung, Hi Ok Chung in Trust and INGKO Trust 101,” the police affidavit states, reported CBC.

The incident was later highlighted as the most shocking example of potential fraud in a government report on “inside suspicious wins” in the provincial-run lottery system in 2007.

The report didn’t name the family but mentioned many details of possible fraud in the case. It pushed the OLGC to take stronger action against lottery fraudsters.

Judge Finds Daughter Equally Culpable

Ontario’s lottery agency first grew suspicious when Kathleen denied having a brother who owned the convenience store. In a series of interviews in early 2004 she again denied that Kenneth was her brother.

Kathleen also told investigators that she didn’t remember where she purchased the ticket. She said she often traveled for her father’s side business that sold Viagra-like Korean herbal drugs in southern Ontario.

Authorities have seized $8 million from the family out of the $12.5 million stolen in commercial properties and luxury vehicles. The court later found both Kathleen and her father equally culpable in the crime.

“I see no reason why they should not be equally responsible for the outstanding amount ($4.6 million),” said Justice Gray, according to Toronto Sun. “I  do not agree that all of the responsibility should be placed on Jun-Chul Chung.”

“The lottery funds were made out to Kathleen Chung, and she was an active participant in securing the funds from the OLGC,” the judge said.

The father and daughter will have seven years to pay their fines after they are paroled. Right now they are on bail waiting to appeal.

It wasn’t the first stolen lottery ticket at the Chung-managed Variety Plus, according to CBC News.