Ex-Lottery.com SPAC Sponsor Sentenced to Prison Over $9M Sham Deal

• Former Lottery.com executive Vadim Komissarov received a 36-month prison sentence after admitting securities fraud tied to the company’s 2021 SPAC merger
• Prosecutors said he helped inflate Lottery.com’s financial results using a sham $9 million Datassure transaction and later misled SEC investigators
• The judge ordered Komissarov to forfeit more than $607,000 from stock sales, while his lawyers’ argued others were more responsible for the fraud

Vadim Komissarov, the former CEO of the investment vehicle that took Lottery.com public, was sentenced Wednesday (June 23) to 36 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to artificially inflate the lottery courier platform’s revenue.

Vadim Komissarov, 54, was CEO of Trident Acquisitions Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that merged with Lottery.com in 2021, taking the lottery courier platform public during the height of the SPAC boom.

According to court documents, Komissarov manipulated financial information to secure the merger and later made false statements about Lottery.com’s financial health.

He also cooked up a sham $9 million deal with a B2B software company, Datassure, that was structured to look like a legitimate commercial transaction in an effort to inflate the company’s financial results.

Stock Sales and SEC Obstruction

In mid-2022, Komissarov sold nearly 300,000 Lottery.com shares for more than $600,000, according to the indictment, months before the company disclosed accounting irregularities to investors.

After going public, Lottery.com soon became embroiled in SEC investigations, investor lawsuits, and internal management upheaval.

Komissarov was also accused of obstructing the SEC’s investigation by giving false and misleading answers about his role in the transaction.

His attorneys argued the Datassure agreement was negotiated before his client became involved with Lottery.com, suggesting others were also culpable. Prosecutors, however, alleged Komissarov later conspired to use the deal to fake the $9 million transaction.

‘Over His Head’

Defense lawyers also noted that Lottery.com’s former CFO, Ryan Dickinson, and CRO, Matthew Clemenson, both pleaded guilty to charges including securities fraud in May 2025 but agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in exchange for cooperation agreements.

It makes you scratch your head on why we’re here today when the two most culpable people are named cooperators,” said defense attorney Jay K. Musoff, as reported by Bloomberg Law.

Komissarov’s sentence was shorter than the five years sought by federal prosecutors. He was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after completing his prison term and to forfeit more than $607,000 in proceeds from the sale of Lottery.com stock.

“I have someone who got himself into an economic situation and found himself in over his head. Instead of fessing up, he tries to find a different way – a criminal way – to get out of it,” the judge said.