RICHLAND COUNTY, SC — A former employee of the S.C. Education Lottery has been indicted by a Richland County grand jury on charges he embezzled more than $200,000 from the lottery, according to Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Specifically, Anthony J. McNeil, 55, was indicted on one count of embezzlement of public funds over $10,000. It is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine.

The indictment alleges that between April 2010 and August 2012, McNeil — while working in the lottery’s finance division — concocted a scheme involving overcharges, bank account sweeps and redirecting of certain funds.

A warrant in the case says that McNeil — who was in charge of collecting money from retailers — tweaked the agency’s computer system to not charge some ticket retailers while overcharging others. He would then call the retailers who weren’t charged and tell them to deposit payments into an account he controlled.

All of these mechanisms resulted in McNeil’s getting the money and the discrepancy not appearing in the Lottery’s overall numbers, the warrant alleges.

After McNeil’s arrest last fall, lottery director Paul Harper Bethea said the money involved was on the financial side of the operation and did not involve the games.

McNeil was fired Oct. 10 after lottery officials discovered accounting discrepancies and the investigation was turned over to SLED.

In all, some $226,439 was stolen, according to a SLED affidavit.

The Attorney General is handling the case because the lottery commission is a state agency.

Reach Monk at (803) 771-8344