A lawsuit accusing the company that runs the Illinois Lottery of fraud has been moved from county court to federal court.

 

According to published reports the change was made after Northstar Lottery Group's attorney requested the move. The attorney said the case should be heard in the U.S. District Court of Southern Illinois because the company "is not a citizen of Illinois" and the amount of money at issue is more than $75,000.

 

The lawsuit filed in February in St. Clair County in southern Illinois alleges Northstar defrauded businesses that sold scratch-off tickets and the customers who bought them by manipulating the number of winning tickets available for purchase, among other things.

 

Plaintiffs are seeking class-action status. The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory damages.