Scamster's Number Up

Newcastle Herald

Monday December 21, 1998

aap

LOS ANGELES: A Canadian businessman who built a multi-million-dollar telemarketing empire selling Australian lottery tickets to Americans at inflated prices has been sentenced to six months in prison.

A plea bargain deal will also provide $US8million ($A12.95million) in restitution to his elderly victims.

James Blair Down, 55, of Vancouver, could have been sentenced to six years behind bars but was given a lower penalty by a Federal District Court in Seattle.

The high-flying international lottery promoter had pleaded guilty to operating his lottery scam from several Canadian locations and a luxurious facility in Barbados where he re-sold foreign lottery tickets from Australia, Spain, Ireland and Canada.

The lure of Australian Tattslotto prizes formed the backbone of the lucrative business that investigators say used `strong-arm' telephone soliciting methods against ageing and lonely Americans.

While it is not illegal to take Australian lottery overseas it is illegal, under US law, to distribute any lottery material through the post or solicit lottery entries over the telephone.