spectr17
05-27-2004, 09:52 PM
Game & Fish scam cheats 27
Thursday, May 27, 2004
CHEYENNE (AP) -- Twenty-seven people who applied for a chance to draw a bighorn sheep or moose license were cheated by a temporary Game and Fish department employee who diverted the payments.
The employee's address was substituted for that of the Game and Fish Department and about $2,500 was taken, according to the department.
The Laramie County District Attorney's Office and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation are investigating. The culprit faces criminal charges.
There was little chance the fraud would not be noticed.
When hunters apply for permits, they either get a license or their money back. Since their checks didn't get to Game and Fish headquarters, none of the 27 applicants got either in the mail.
"We have contacted all those applicants individually," department spokesman Al Langston said. "We will enter them into a supplemental draw, and if they don't get a license out of the draw, they'll still get a preference point."
The supplemental drawing will be only for applicants whose applications were sent to the employee. They applied for a variety of hunt areas and will again apply for the same areas they tried to draw earlier.
"Their odds will be the same as the odds in the original drawing," he said.
As a result, as many as two extra licenses could be issued this year for each of the hunt areas in question, but Langston said that's unlikely. Odds are a few applicants will draw a permit while the rest only will get a preference point, which count toward future drawing odds.
"Most of the areas for bighorn sheep depend on if you have all of your preference points or not," Langston said.
The more popular areas require the maximum number of preference points -- nine this year -- to draw a license. Applicants may only get one preference point a year, and they have to either apply and fail to draw a license or buy a preference point to get one.
"Their chances of drawing a supplemental license are anywhere from less than 2 percent to up around 30 percent," he said.
Thursday, May 27, 2004
CHEYENNE (AP) -- Twenty-seven people who applied for a chance to draw a bighorn sheep or moose license were cheated by a temporary Game and Fish department employee who diverted the payments.
The employee's address was substituted for that of the Game and Fish Department and about $2,500 was taken, according to the department.
The Laramie County District Attorney's Office and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation are investigating. The culprit faces criminal charges.
There was little chance the fraud would not be noticed.
When hunters apply for permits, they either get a license or their money back. Since their checks didn't get to Game and Fish headquarters, none of the 27 applicants got either in the mail.
"We have contacted all those applicants individually," department spokesman Al Langston said. "We will enter them into a supplemental draw, and if they don't get a license out of the draw, they'll still get a preference point."
The supplemental drawing will be only for applicants whose applications were sent to the employee. They applied for a variety of hunt areas and will again apply for the same areas they tried to draw earlier.
"Their odds will be the same as the odds in the original drawing," he said.
As a result, as many as two extra licenses could be issued this year for each of the hunt areas in question, but Langston said that's unlikely. Odds are a few applicants will draw a permit while the rest only will get a preference point, which count toward future drawing odds.
"Most of the areas for bighorn sheep depend on if you have all of your preference points or not," Langston said.
The more popular areas require the maximum number of preference points -- nine this year -- to draw a license. Applicants may only get one preference point a year, and they have to either apply and fail to draw a license or buy a preference point to get one.
"Their chances of drawing a supplemental license are anywhere from less than 2 percent to up around 30 percent," he said.