NLCB: $14.5m Lotto jackpot remains unclaimed

One of the largest Lotto jackpots remains unclaimed, the $14.5 million jackpot, sold in Gasparillo last year. The information was shared as the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB) sat before the Public Accounts Committee (PCA) chaired by Oropouche West MP Davendranath Tancoo.

Independent and opposition senators Hazel Thompson-Ahye and Jearlean John respectively were also a part of that committee which questioned NLCB executives along with finance ministry representatives and representatives from the auditor general’s office about various matters.

The executives revealed that, per year, unclaimed prizes ranged between $42-$150 million.

Prizes could be claimed for up to six months at NLCB, after that it was sent to Parliament, NLCB’s lead financial consultant Wendy Dwarika shared on March 12.

Dwarika, along with NLCB chairman Eustace Nancis, corporate secretary Chandrakali Maharaj and NLCB’s marketing manager Lissandra Thompson-Khan responded to questions about audited reports for 2008-2012, the 2013 financial statements, whether the authority’s expenditure conformed to the rules that governed it, the challenges NLCB faces and whether possible solutions and recommendations were made to ensure the board met its mandate.

Dwarika said, “Unclaimed prizes represent prizes that have not yet been claimed by winners of various tickets.

“We also make a provision for unclaimed prizes for the scratch games. Once we launch a new scratch game we know what the prizes will be, so we make a provision for it until the winner comes in and redeems the ticket and then that provision is then reversed,” she said.

Dwarika explained that prizes were redeemable up to six months and then, if that was not done, the money was remitted to the treasury and winners then had to go there to get approval to return to NLCB to claim the prize.

People had up to three years to do so, she added.

Asked if there was an instance where a Lotto prize had not been collected, Nanis said there was the winner from Gasparillo for $14 million who had not collected his winnings.

Dwarika said for 2013, $150 million in prize money went unclaimed and a similar figure existed for 2024.

However, those figures varied by year and in 2012 unclaimed prize money was $42 million, she said.

Tancoo then asked if ads were placed about the unclaimed prizes and Dwarika said, “No, not at all.”

“We don’t normally do that,” she said when Tancoo asked why not.

She said winners had up to one year to claim in online games and this was in accordance with the National Lotteries Act. Tancoo told the public to check their tickets as the money could be used in these difficult times.

NLCB: Sponsorship down by 47 per cent between 2013-2025

One of the first issues addressed by the PCA was sponsorship. Dwarika in an opening statement to the committee said that NLCB had reduced its sponsorship by 47 per cent since 2013.

Dwarika said in 2020, its sponsorship was $23 million and in 2024 it was $17.7 million. Tancoo then asked when the board did its qualitative and quantitative analysis of its sponsorship policy what were some of the flaws found and corrected. Thompson-Ahye also chided the executives for grammatical errors in its new conflict-of-interest policy.

NLCB’s marketing manager Lissandra Thompson-Khan said people were now required to submit certificates of incorporation for their businesses, banking information, annual returns, a listing of directors and beneficial owners and, up to a certain threshold, reports were to be submitted to the NLCB to show how the funds were used.

Dwarika then clarified that sponsorship was now going to registered businesses instead of individuals, there was more due diligence and there was now an after-event report which ensured the funds were properly spent.

Tancoo asked how long the NCLB had been in operation to which Dwarika said more than 50 years.

“My concern is for more than 50 years we have had a situation where we would have been spending between $15-20 million per year of tax-payers money,” Tancoo said.

“We would have been spending $15-20 million per year without the benefits of some of these very simple checks and balances. I am sure the auditor general, in reports I would have seen previously, would have made recommendations for checks and balances to ensure proper accountability,” he added.

He asked if any one had been held accountable for the money previously spent.

The NLCB executives said no one had been held accountable. He asked if there were any attempts by the board to go back and hold people accountable.

“Not to my knowledge we have gone back to analyse, as you indicated. I am sure what I have just indicated, in terms of strengthening the policy, some of it was in place except that it was not properly documented,” Dwarika said.

“So now that it is properly documented and there is a policy in place we expect that the staff and relevant departments would follow it and comply with the policy,” she said.

Tancoo said it was a concern that the organisation may be facilitating individuals or entities that did not use the money for the intended purpose.

Nancis said before the installation of his board, sponsorship was like a free-for-all. He said in the early years NLCB’s maximum sponsorship was used up within the financial year or in the first three months of a year.

He said the board took the decision to be more robust and cut down the sponsorship that was freely given away. Nancis said from 2020 the NLCB saw big savings by cutting down sponsorship by almost 30 per cent.

The executives said a “blacklist” had been created and those “mistakes, errors and breaches” had been forgiven.

Tancoo asked if it was not useful to pursue and prosecute those who had not used the monies for the intended purposes and Nancis said he could ask the staff and management to go back beyond 2020 and look at reports and send them to the committee.