Bill Comes After Audit Found Hundreds of Claimants Using Questionable Social Security Numbers
(TRENTON) – Legislation Assemblywoman Annette Quijano sponsored to combat lottery fraud by making it a fourth-degree crime to use a Social Security number to collect lottery winnings to evade debt and liability collection was advanced Thursday by an Assembly panel.
The bill (A-4469) comes after an audit of the Division of the State Lottery of the time period July 1, 2013 to August 31, 2014 found 680 claimants provided questionable Social Security numbers when collecting lottery winnings of $600 or more.
Forty-six of these claimants used Social Security numbers of deceased individuals with different names than the claimants.
“The fraudulent use of Social Security numbers may prevent appropriate taxes and other debt and liabilities from being collected accurately, and the purpose of this bill is to deter individuals from providing inaccurate information when claiming lottery winnings,” said Quijano (D-Union). “If the state lottery is to remain a valuable service, its credibility must be impeccable, and that means ensuring lottery winnings are properly collected.”
The bill was released by the Assembly Tourism, Gaming and The Arts Committee.