The Illinois Commerce Commission approved a plan for ComEd to issue a $38 million rebate to customers in the wake of a bribery scheme that has seen numerous high-profile indictments, including that of former House Speaker Mike Madigan, but some activists say that the rebate is far too small a penalty.
The ICC approved the rebate during its regularly-scheduled meeting on Wednesday. A $31 million rebate will be issued by the company directly to consumers to help pay off costs associated with the highly-publicized bribery scheme, while another $7 million rebate will be awarded to consumers through a “federal regulatory process,” according to the ICC.
ComEd also was required to pay a $200 million fine to the government as part of a deferred prosecution agreement in connection with the scheme.
“The quality and value of ComEd’s service to our customers is arguably the best in the nation, but we recognize that delivering excellent performance and value for the dollar is not enough, and we are equally dedicated to earning and maintaining our customers’ trust,” the utility said in a statement.
While it is unclear when the rebates will be issued, likely as a credit on the bill of customers, the rebate amount would average out to around $5 per customer.
https://fcced.com/comed-to-pay-rebates-to-illinois-customers-2282022/
A state legislative audit of the Maryland lottery found that the same eight people are winning over and over, and since 2020, these individuals have won the lottery 2,305 times with winnings totaling $4.5 million.
And these numbers are only from prizes over $600 because the state does not collect personal information on prizes under this amount.
Of course, we're talking about the state-level games here, not national games like Powerball, but it's definitely suspicious. Plus, there seems to be an art in Maryland of hiding one's identity behind giant checks, probably to keep family and friends from finding out about the winners' good fortune, but now it's looking like it could be to keep lottery fanatics and the authorities from catching on to the repeat wins too.
The audit also revealed that the State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency had some irregular practices: their systems did not use two-factor identification and they were also not cross-referencing winners' identifications.
The audit came up because there was an allegation of nepotism in the agency, and it did in fact turn out that the agency had favored contracting and violated ethics laws. The report only suggests that this issue was related to salary and contracts, not that nepotism was involved in the suspicious winnings.
Obviously Maryland citizens are upset about the news. Christine Moore of Catonsville said,
"I want to know how did they cheat and do it because you have so many people who haven't won once."
The eight people involved are currently being investigated.
https://notthebee.com/article/the-same-eight-people-have-won-the-maryland-lottery-2305-times-in-two-years
pennsylvania lottery, too…
BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Many players of Maryland's lottery games are chilled by the findings of a recent audit which reveals that the same people are winning Maryland's top lottery prizes over and over again.
The state legislative audit of Maryland's Lottery Agency revealed that, in a one-year period, eight players had won top lottery prizes 200 or more times.
In the state's Pick 4 game, where the odds of winning are one-in-10,000, auditors found one player had claimed the game's $5,000 top prize, 79-times in one year.
"I want to know how did they cheat and do it because you have so many people who haven't won once," said Christine Moore, a regular lottery player in Catonsville.
A recent audit of Pennsylvania's lottery found that 17 players had won top lottery prizes in that state 50 or more times.
"This has nothing to do with lottery products, they are completely secure," said Pennsylvania's Auditor General Tim DeFoor.
"We are talking about whether or not the person claiming the winning prize is doing something they shouldn't," DeFoor said.
https://foxbaltimore.com/news/city-in-crisis/audit-raises-security-concerns-at-maryland-lottery-agency