Monday evening, Loterie Romande temporarily suspended its “Joker” game due to massive ticket purchases in Geneva. This decision did not stop the perpetrators of the operation. According to our information, they then acted in Zurich. German-speaking counterpart of the Loterie Romande, Swisslos confirms. “We recorded such attempts in Zurich, but we quickly put an end to them,” says the organization’s communications department. Which specifies: “We were warned by Loterie Romande. We can no longer play the Joker game alone at home, but only combined with Swiss Loto or online, as is the case on this side of the Sarine.
On Wednesday, the “Tribune de Genève” revealed that an organized gang was trying to win the “Joker” jackpot of at least 2.6 million francs, the drawing of which (maintained) took place on Wednesday evening. Armed with wads of cash, players visited dozens of kiosks in the canton during the weekend. Their goal? Play all possible combinations and win the jackpot.
A Geneva trader claims that a man bet 8,000 francs in cash. Another of our sources, who says he assisted a tobacconist friend during the weekend, says: “We were visited several times by two men. The first, in his thirties, English-speaking, dressed cool but neat, polite, seemed to be leading the operation. He only came once, but the other, in the same style, brought envelopes with 4,000 francs in them several times to buy tickets.” For the Genevan, there is no doubt, “they really seemed to know what they were doing”. Furthermore, “one of them told us that their means were “no limit”, particularly with a view to possible legal action by Loterie Romande (read box below)”.
Finally, visitors to the kiosk reportedly indicated that they were aware of a flaw in their plan. If the final jackpot were to be shared between several winners, then the winnings might not be enough to cover the amount invested by the gang, namely two million francs, according to a source from the “Tribune de Genève”.
