AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Attorney General’s Office is the latest to announce it is investigating the state’s lottery.
The office will specifically look at the lottery process, including bulk lottery purchases and the use of third-party courier services. Courier services allow customers to order tickets online or through an app.
Paxton mentioned his office would specifically look into two wins that have recently been called into question.
“The investigation will examine if and when any state or federal laws were broken, as well as the process by which the ‘winners’ obtained such a large number of tickets in a short time span,” the Attorney General’s office announced in a release.
The announcement comes just days after Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Rangers to investigate two lottery wins: an $83.5 million jackpot won last week at a retailer owned and operated by a courier service as well as a $95 million jackpot win from April 2023 where a single entity bought nearly all tickets.
Lawmakers and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have also recently questioned courier services and the potential for them to enable money laundering or allow underaged players to buy tickets. The Texas Lottery announced Monday it would ban the services and expand its investigation of them.
Attorney General Ken Paxton noted he is “deeply concerned about the integrity of our state’s lottery system,” and that his office “will hold anyone who engages in illegal activity accountable.”
The Texas Lottery Commission is currently under sunset review, in which a state commission “regularly assess[es] the need for a state agency or program to exist,” according to the Texas Sunset Advistory Commission’s website.
Reporters Dylan McKim and Adam Schwager, as well as digital content producer Abigail Jones, contributed to this report.
