Italy freezes more than €25m in Gratta e Vinci case involving five former employees

Italian financial police executed a precautionary seizure of assets and financial holdings worth €25,067,224 on 23 October 2026 in a case tied to Italy's Gratta e Vinci instant lottery. The measure follows audit proceedings opened by the Lazio regional prosecutor's office of the Corte dei conti, with prosecutors alleging five former employees of the concessionaire identified four high-value winning tickets before their retail purchase.

What the court order covers

The Rome provincial command of the Guardia di Finanza carried out the order after a decision by the Lazio section of the Corte dei conti. The sequestro conservativo — a precautionary attachment under Italian law — targets 25 property units, including apartments, small villas, garages and cellars located across the provinces of Rome, Viterbo, Treviso, Taranto, Grosseto and Reggio Calabria. The order also covers five vehicles (cars and motorcycles) and unspecified financial holdings.

Prosecutors place the alleged damage to the public administration at €25,067,224, a figure that exceeds the combined face value of the four disputed prizes, which total €24 million. The seizure is intended to preserve assets that might be needed to satisfy a future judgment; it is not a final determination of liability.

The allegations and the disputed tickets

Investigators allege the five former employees used their access credentials to extract information from the concessionaire's computer systems and thereby identify winning tickets and the retail outlets that would receive them. Prosecutors say relatives and friends of the former employees then purchased those tickets from the indicated outlets.

The four prizes at issue reportedly comprised two first prizes worth €7 million each and two prizes worth €5 million each. The prizes relate to transactions carried out between 2015 and 2019: two €5 million prizes were associated with tickets purchased in 2015, while the two €7 million prizes were associated with purchases in 2017 and 2019. The allegations focus on the use of privileged information rather than on the act of purchasing winning tickets alone.

Who is party to the claim and why the State is suing

The claim in the audit proceedings is advanced on behalf of the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM), Italy's Customs and Monopolies Agency, rather than by the lottery concessionaire itself. Prosecutors argue that, had the tickets remained unclaimed, funds might have remained within public revenues; that is the basis for the allegation that the public administration suffered a recoverable financial loss.

The difference between the €24 million combined prize value and the €25,067,224 claim reflects the overall figure advanced in the proceedings; its precise legal and financial basis is for the court to assess. The authorities have described the concessionaire as unrelated to the alleged conduct. The concession is held by Lotterie Nazionali S.r.l. and runs under the current arrangements until 30 September 2028.

Procedural status and next steps

The five former employees have been summoned to appear before the Corte dei conti. A designated judge will review whether the precautionary seizure should be confirmed, modified or revoked. That judgment will decide whether the present restrictions on the assets remain in place while the substantive audit case proceeds.

Public material available to date shows that a criminal inquiry reported in 2020 previously considered suspected conduct involving access to computer systems and the acquisition of winning scratchcards; the current proceedings before the Corte dei conti address alleged financial damage to the State and the preservation of assets. The existence of the earlier inquiry does not itself establish liability in the audit proceedings, nor does it determine the outcome of the present case.

Issues raised for lottery oversight and system controls

Prosecutors' allegations raise questions about whether access privileges within the concessionaire's information systems were adequately restricted, whether unusual system activity was detectable and whether controls around ticket allocation and distribution were sufficient to prevent improper interference. The concessionaire's published framework describes prizes being incorporated into tickets through a controlled process and tickets being validated via the concessionaire's information system.

Regulatory and operational scrutiny will likely concentrate on separation of duties, credential management and monitoring of systems that handle sensitive lottery information. The proceedings require the court to determine whether any alleged misuse of privileged information caused a legally recoverable loss to the public administration.

"The seizure is a precautionary measure intended to preserve assets while the proceedings continue," the public record states, and the authorities emphasise that the allegations have not been established by a final judgment.

A designated judge's decision on the precautionary order will shape the immediate legal position of the five former employees and the availability of assets to meet any future recovery ordered by the Corte dei conti.

Wider context for the concession

Lotterie Nazionali S.r.l. holds the instant lottery concession recognised by ADM, and the concession runs until 30 September 2028. ADM's published information sets out controls designed to keep internal production and distribution processes distinct from ordinary customers' purchasing experience. The authorities have explicitly described the concessionaire as unrelated to the alleged conduct, and the proceedings currently address individual former employees and a claim on behalf of the public administration.

The forthcoming judicial assessments will determine the basis and extent of any recoverable loss and whether the precautionary measures remain justified as the audit proceedings continue.