COULD THIS BE LOTTO'S BIG BUYER?

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 25, 1992                   TAG: 9202250248
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: THOMAS HUANG and STEVE SUO
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Medium
COULD THIS BE LOTTO'S BIG BUYER?
An Australian syndicate linked to Stefan Mandel, a well-known high-stakes lottery player Down Under, is believed to have raised $7.6 million in an effort to corner Virginia's $27 million jackpot, an Australian law official said today.
The Melbourne-based syndicate, called the International Lotto Fund, enlisted an Illinois man to buy several million lottery tickets on its behalf, said another Australian official.
The ticket-buyer, Anithalee S. Alex Jr., an oil company president from Teutopolis, Ill., acted as an American agent for Mandel, the second official said. Alex leased a Norfolk office shortly before the Feb. 15 lottery drawing.
Alex made five trips to Australia in the past two years, an associate of Alex's said last week, and Mandel traveled to the United States at least four times in the past year, the Australian law official said. The most recent trip was Feb. 20, when he entered the country via Los Angeles.
Mandel won an Australian state lottery in 1986 by covering all the combinations of lottery numbers in a manner similar to the strategy used in Virginia.
But he has been blocked in his home country from repeating his feat after several state lottery laws were changed in recent years to forbid large-block ticket purchases.
The International Lotto Fund told its 2,500 investors in a Feb. 20 letter that it won a major overseas jackpot the weekend of Feb. 15.
Fund officials, reached in Melbourne by phone, refused to say whether the group had won Virginia's jackpot - drawn on Feb. 15 - or whether they were the Australian group that wired $7.2 million to a Hampton Roads bank with the intent to cover all possible combinations in the lottery.
Mandel, a Romanian-born accountant, could not be reached Monday, but in an interview last week, he denied any involvement in the Virginia lottery scheme, saying, "To put down $7 million to get $1.3 million a year for 20 years wouldn't be such a great deal. You'd have to be dumb."
In charge of promoting the fund, Mandel has been jetting between Australia and the United States for the past year, said the Australian law official, who requested anonymity, as did the other official.
Mandel circulated a brochure in recent months offering a deal on a new investment in the United States, the law official said.
The man Australians call "the lotteries wizard" departed for the United States on Feb. 20, the official said. He is still in the United States, but the official said he did not know where.
The International Lotto Fund ran into legal problems last year. The Australian Securities Commission, charging in court that fund officials had been violating Australian corporate law, had obtained a temporary injunction prohibiting the lotto syndicate from transferring money, property and securities overseas.
The injunction was lifted on Feb. 7 when the company overseeing the fund, Australian Sharetrading and Underwriting Ltd., agreed out of court to comply with various securities requirements, said a securities investigator in Melbourne.
More than a week after the Virginia jackpot was drawn, the winner has yet to step forward. The Virginia State Police and the FBI are continuing to look into the multimillion-dollar block purchases.
The Australian connection to an attempt to corner the state lottery was first made last week when, according to a banker, a group from Australia tried to wire $7.2 million to a Hampton Roads bank with plans to buy all combinations of lottery numbers.
The bank turned them down, but the group succeeded in placing their money with Crestar Bank, and at least $4 million in lottery ticket purchases at three local grocery and convenience store chains were made with Crestar cashier's checks.
The Australian connection was strengthened when it was learned that Alex made $3 million in lottery ticket purchases at Farm Fresh and had made several trips to Australia in the past two years.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB