Former Lottery.com Executives Face SEC Legal Action Over Fraud Allegations
SEC Files Lawsuit Against Former Lottery.com Leaders
On January 22, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Lottery.com along with its former CEO Lawrence Anthony DiMatteo, former executives Matthew Clemenson and Ryan Dickinson, and Vadim Komissarov, CEO of Trident Acquisitions Corp. The SEC accuses them of orchestrating fraudulent transactions aimed at artificially boosting revenue figures prior to Lottery.com’s merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
Details of the Alleged Fraudulent Scheme
The SEC’s complaint describes a pattern where large sums of money were circulated to mimic legitimate business operations. For example, Lottery.com reportedly recorded a $9 million payment for customer data that likely held no real value. This revenue was then funneled back through overpriced acquisitions of two Mexican companies, giving a false impression of business growth without actual economic benefit.
As the company approached its SPAC merger, the scheme allegedly intensified. In the weeks leading up to going public, executives DiMatteo, Clemenson, and Dickinson took part in a fictitious $30 million sale of advertising credits. The SEC indicates that such deceptive practices continued even after Lottery.com’s public listing, masking the company’s true financial condition from investors.
The SEC highlighted that these revenue inflation tactics constituted the majority of Lottery.com’s reported income, misleading investors and causing significant financial losses.
The Rise and Decline of Lottery.com
Initially, Lottery.com positioned itself as an innovative disruptor in the lottery industry, serving as a digital intermediary between consumers and state-run lottery games. The company went public on Nasdaq in 2018. However, by 2022, it reportedly struggled to meet payroll and saw the departure of much of its senior leadership.
Repercussions and Company Response
The SEC states that Lottery.com’s board identified the fraud by mid-2022 and attempted to address the issue by removing the implicated executives. Despite these efforts, the company suffered severe damage. Its market value plummeted from around $400 million to under $10 million, causing devastating losses for shareholders and prompting nearly the entire board to resign.
Since then, Lottery.com has worked to reinvent itself, aiming to revolutionize how and where lotteries are played, including efforts to gamify charitable contributions. The company confirmed that all individuals named in the SEC’s complaint are no longer employed there and emphasized significant internal reforms.
Nevertheless, the company faces serious regulatory risks. The SEC is pursuing settlements that could prohibit Clemenson and Dickinson from holding executive or board roles in public companies in the future, along with demands for them to repay alleged ill-gotten gains plus interest and potential fines.
