On January 22, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated legal action against Lottery.com, its former CEO Lawrence Anthony DiMatteo, former executives Matthew Clemenson and Ryan Dickinson, and Vadim Komissarov, the CEO of Trident Acquisitions Corp. The SEC alleges that the defendants orchestrated a series of sham transactions designed to inflate revenue figures before Lottery.com’s merger with a special-purpose acquisition company.
The SEC Levies Serious Accusations
According to the complaint, the alleged fraudulent activities circulated significant amounts of money to simulate legitimate business activity. In one instance, Lottery.com allegedly received $9 million for customer data that likely had no actual value. That payment was recorded as revenue and then funneled back to its source through inflated acquisitions of two Mexican companies, creating an impression of growth without any real economic substance.
The SEC claims that the scheme escalated as a high-profile merger to make the company public drew near. In the weeks leading to the SPAC deal, DiMatteo, Clemenson, and Dickinson allegedly participated in a fabricated $30 million sale of advertising credits. Prosecutors note that these maneuvers continued after the merger made Lottery.com a public company, masking its true financial status from investors.
According to the complaint, these revenue scams accounted for most of Lottery.com’s purported revenue, misled investors, and caused investors to suffer substantial losses.
SEC statement
Lottery.com once positioned itself as a market disruptor in the lottery space. It presented itself as a digital bridge between consumers and traditional state-run games, and debuted on Nasdaq in 2018. By 2022, however, the company was reportedly unable to meet payroll obligations, and much of its senior leadership departed.
According to the SEC, Lottery.com’s board uncovered the suspected fraud by mid-2022 and moved to contain the situation by removing the executives involved. However, the company had already suffered irreversible damage. Market capitalization dropped from approximately $400 million to less than $10 million, resulting in catastrophic losses for shareholders. Nearly the entire board later resigned.
Lottery.com has since aimed to turn a new page. The company has rebranded itself, with a mission to redefine how, where, and when lottery is played and to gamify charitable giving. Lottery.com reportedly insisted that all individuals named in the SEC complaint no longer work for the company and stressed it had undertaken significant changes.
However, the potential regulatory fallout remains serious as the company may lose what little credibility it has left. Meanwhile, the SEC is seeking settlements that would bar Clemenson and Dickinson from serving as officers or directors of public companies, while requiring them to return all alleged illicit profits along with interest and potential civil penalties.
