A dozen employees and former employees of the Italian lottery company won 24 million euros ($A40 million) through cheating, Italian financial crimes police say.
The alleged swindlers bought four winning lottery tickets between 2015 and 2019 after breaking into internal computer systems to find out where they were being sold, the Guardia di Finanza police said.
Two of the so-called "stratch & win" tickets were worth 5 million euros each and two more 7 million euros each.
Circumnavigating company rules banning employees from taking part in lottery games, they claimed their illicit wins through relatives or close friends, sharing part of the money with them.
Police seized assets worth more than 27 million euros from 12 people involved in the scam, who were under investigation for aggravated fraud, computer hacking, trading in stolen goods and money laundering.
National lottery games in Italy are managed by a private company.
Australian Associated Press
