The Winning Ticket

Uncovering America's Biggest Lottery Scam

By: Rob Sand

Narrated by: Alex Boyles

The Winning Ticket is an inside look at one of the most complicated yet seat-of-your-pants financial investigations and prosecutions in recent history.

Rob Sand, the youngest attorney in his office, was assigned a new case by his boss, who was days away from retirement. Inside the thin accordion binder that Sand received was meager evidence that had been gathered over the course of two years by Iowa authorities regarding a suspicious lottery ticket. No one expected the case to go anywhere. No dead body, no shots fired, and no money paid out. Why should they care?

There was no certainty that a crime had even been committed. But a mysterious Belizean trust had attempted to claim the $16-million ticket but then decided to forgo the money and maintain anonymity when the State of Iowa demanded to know who had purchased the ticket. Who values anonymity over that much money?

Both a story of small-town America and a true-crime saga about the largest lottery-rigging scheme in American history, The Winning Ticket follows the investigation all the way down the rabbit hole to uncover how Eddie Tipton was able to cheat the system to win jackpots over $16 million and go more than a decade without being caught—until Sand inherited the case.

Just as remarkable as the crime are the real-life characters met along the way: an honest fireworks salesman, a hoodwinked FBI agent, a crooked Texas lawman, a shady attorney representing a Belizean trust, and, Bigfoot hunters. While some of the characters are nearly unbelievable, the everyday themes of integrity and hard work resonate throughout the saga.

As the case builds toward a reckoning, The Winning Ticket demonstrates how a new day has dawned in prosecuting complex technological crimes.

©2022 Rob Sand (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Amazing story!

Great story and very well told. However there are some chapters were the author tells his life story that do not fit well in the book

Awesome story

I listened because Rob grew up in a surrounding area that I grew up in. Gets a bit in the weeds at times, but loved the story and definitely an interesting story that was on the news.

Loved it, but...

Loved the tale right up until he went political, denying cause for Jan6th-unrest. This story is the literal PROOF that computerized voting machines can be hacked.

Riveting

This is a fascinating story. The book is engaging and also very well written. I recommend it.

A great read

As an Iowan, I'm well aware of this story. That being said, there were many details that I didn't know about until reading this book. Rob Sand is a great storyteller!

Fascinating story

This was a fascinating story that shows how criminals can justify their actions in their mind. I’m very impressed by Rob Sand and expect his star to continue to rise.

Uhh what did I buy?

If you’re a lawyer or studying to be a lawyer, then this book is good. If you’re a regular person who doesn’t care about the intricacies of law but just looking for a good story, save your money and buy something else. Oh! Also, you’ll get to hear a lot more about the author’s life and history than that of Eddie, the guy who actually committed the crime. The author goes into painful detail about his (the author’s) entire life history. Spoiler: he’s a nobody from nobodyville who had a boring normal childhood, but lucky for world he recorded every boring detail in this book.

Bait and switch

This book is about the authors background, upbringing, and life more so than a lottery scam.