Watch the full investigation: Against all odds, DC Lottery retailers are winning big
WASHINGTON (WUSA9) – Your odds of winning the lottery might seem slim, but there are store workers in D.C. who have won not once, not twice, but as often as 123 times.
A WUSA9 investigation aired October 29th tracking $45 million in jackpots paid out to a select group of recipients that won the DC Lottery 10 times or more.
"It is important to note that frequent wins by individuals, including lottery agents, do not definitively mean improper activity has occurred," said DC Lottery spokesman David Umansky. "It is important to note that the information provided to you on frequent winners does not, and cannot show how much money an individual spends playing the lottery."
FULL INVESTIGATION: WUSA9 Investigation: DC Lottery retailers sell themselves hundreds of winning tickets
In the arrest uncovered by WUSA9, former Crown Gas Station employee was accused of printing himself $79,116 worth of Race to Riches tickets without paying the lottery for the tickets.
The WUSA9 investigation found that three of D.C.'s top five frequent winners were lottery retailers. The occupations of the others couldn't be determined.
"The chance that the top three occupations are all lottery retailers is 1/10,000,000,000 (that's 10 zeros)" said Dan Naiman, a statistics professor at Johns Hopkins University using a formula assuming the odds of finding someone's occupation is a lottery retailer. "Around the chance of getting heads in 33 consecutive coin flips."
Officials directed WUSA9 to contact the US Attorney's Office about the case of the man who sold himself a million dollar ticket. The US Attorney said it does not confirm or deny any pending action.