‘Won’ $15 Million : Lottery Expert Arrested in Pa.
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania Lottery computer expert was arrested for making up a bogus ticket and having an accomplice claim a nearly $15.3-million Super 7 prize last week, officials said today.
Henry Rich, 33, of Harrisburg, an employee of Control Data Corp., was arrested late Monday as he tried to pick up a share of the winnings from his alleged accomplice, video store clerk Mark Herbst.
Atty. Gen. LeRoy Zimmerman said Rich, a 6 1/2-year employee of the company that provides computer services for the lottery, had recruited Herbst for the scheme.
Zimmerman said Rich tapped into the lottery’s main computer last year to search out data on high-value but uncashed winning tickets, and settled on the missing ticket from a July 15 drawing.
Herbst told officials he had stashed the stub in a cigar box after using it as a bookmark.
“The real winner of the $15-million lottery is out there somewhere,†Zimmerman said.
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