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More evidence has started trickling in on the modus operandi used by some top officials at the National Lottery Authority (NLA) to siphon billions of cedis from the operations of the revenue generator. Following the arrest of a suspect in Kumasi who attempted to withdraw a dubious GH�35, 000 from the National Investment Bank (NIB) branch at Adum, as the face value of a winning ticket, President John Mahama has ordered a full scale investigation into the case to unravel all those behind the nocturnal stealing at the department. The Chronicle can, however, report that long before the President ordered an investigation into the fraudulent activities at the NLA, a secret document had already been prepared by one of the major stakeholders in the industry, and sent to the management detailing how some unscrupulous people among the top hierarchy of the Authority had liaised with their cronies dotted across the country, to use dubious means to steal money from the state. Unfortunately, the management failed to act upon the lead, resulting in the massive raping of the finances of the Authority. Mr. Kplorlarli Kplogah, Director for Corporate Planning and Sales, recently told Radio XYZ that the NLA had increased its profits, and that last year alone, GH�22 million was generated by his outfit and paid into the Consolidated Fund. According to him, the National Lottery Authority (NLA) had also reduced its win ratio from an average of 56 percent of sales revenue to 47 percent in the first quarter of this year. The Chronicle, however, gathered that if the lead provided by the stakeholder had been religiously followed, more revenue would have accrued to the state than the quoted GH�22 million. A copy of the document, which is in the possession of The Chronicle, which was also copied to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), which also failed to act upon it, revealed that some of the top level management officials, in connivance with some of their regional directors collaborators, had procured lotto kiosks for trusted friends in the regions. When the lotto numbers are drawn in the evening, the top management officials involved in the deal in Accra would relay the numbers to some of their regional directors, who also know about the deal. They, in turn, would ask their trusted lotto kiosks operators to write the winning numbers and submit them undercover to the Regional Directors involved. Upon the receipt of the numbers from the kiosk operators, these directors would slot them into the data system and submit them to the head office in Accra, as part of the winning tickets. This way, big winnings are then paid to their own men and women to be shared among them, the document noted. It was further revealed that when some of the top officials were hinted about a possible removal from their positions during the late Atta Mills� government, a whopping 37 billion old cedis was won in some of the regions. Presently, the NLA is investigating how its database administrator forged tickets for the illegal payment of about GH�800,000 as winning tickets. This brings to �45 billion the amount that might have been misappropriated through these clandestine activities at the NLA, which a source told this reporter, might be the tip of the iceberg. Meanwhile, Joy FM reported yesterday that it had intercepted a document that indicates the Director of ICT at the National Lottery Authority (NLA) had been suspended, together with three other employees. The suspension, according to the document, was pending the outcome of investigations connected to a recent fraud case. An Administrator of the NLA�s Kumasi branch has allegedly confessed to altering serial numbers of lotto tickets in the payment system, leading to an abuse. Already, the Director General of the NLA, Mr. Kojo Andah, has been asked by office the President to proceed on leave, and hand over the day to day administration of the Authority to Brigadier Martin Ahiaglo, who is to act until a new Director General is appointed. Andah, who has so far not been linked to the deals, is to report to the Ministry of Finance for re-assignment after the expiration of his leave period. Meanwhile, The Chronicle is closing in on one of the directors of the NLA, who is said to have put up a huge hospitality facility in the eastern corridor of the country in a record time.