Netflix’s Real $160M Mexican Lottery Fraud Story

Mexico — Netflix has released the first trailer for its upcoming series "Me Late Que Sí," which follows the story of a group of people involved in a fraud to claim the grand prize of the national "Melate" lottery. What may surprise many is that the series is inspired by real events that occurred in Mexico in 2012.

The series is a Netflix Latin America production directed by María José Cuevas. The cast is headed by Alberto Guerra ("Narcos: México," "Ingobernable," and "Griselda"), and he is joined by high-profile Mexican talents such as Ana Brenda Contreras, Christian Tappan, Andrés Almeida, Mercedes Hernández, Mariana Gajá, Aldo Escalante Ochoa, Luis Alberti, Jero Medina, Jesusa Ochoa, Paloma Petra, and Majo Vargas. Although a release date has not been revealed, it is expected to arrive on the Netflix platform at some point in 2025.

The Real Melate Fraud of 2012

The fraud of the Melate draw 2518, which occurred on January 22, 2012, became one of the most notorious deceptions in the history of Mexican lotteries. A group of seven people, composed of officials from Pronósticos para la Asistencia Pública and employees of the company Just Marketing, executed a meticulous plan to illegally extract a prize of 160 million pesos.

The key to the fraud lay in the manipulation of the draw's video. Instead of being conducted in real time, the recording was pre-produced in an adjacent room and later transmitted as if it were live. While millions of viewers believed they were witnessing an authentic event, the implicated individuals had already identified the winning numbers and purchased tickets with the exact combination.

The winning numbers were 06, 12, 15, 24, 25, and 49 and 09, 20, 36, 51, 53, and 54.

The deception was possible due to a lack of rigorous supervision. The interventor from the Secretary of the Interior approved the authenticity of the draw without verifying its execution in person. Meanwhile, the tickets with the winning numbers were purchased before the closure of the capture system, allowing those involved to later claim the prize.

Suspicions arose when Annie Castillo, Technical and Legal Coordinator of Pronósticos, noticed that only relatives and employees of Just Marketing were cashing the prizes. Upon analyzing the videos, inconsistencies in the transmission were detected, leading to the filing of a complaint with the Attorney General's Office (PGR) in March 2012.

The investigations allowed for the identification of those responsible and the recovery of a large part of the stolen amount. The bank accounts of those implicated were frozen, and arrest warrants were issued. In total, 12 people were detained, including directors of Pronósticos and employees of Just Marketing. However, due to Mexican laws, most obtained their freedom on bail.

In the wake of the scandal, a prohibition on pre-recordings for contests organized by Pronósticos para la Asistencia Pública was established. The Melate 2518 fraud remains recorded as an episode of corruption and negligence that challenged the credibility of the lottery system in Mexico.