CHICAGO — A Chicago lawyer has sued McDonald's Corp. and a marketing firm over the alleged criminal ring that fixed $1 million winners in McDonald's popular Monopoly and "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" games.

Aron D. Robinson is seeking class-action status for the consumer fraud lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Cook County. The suit names McDonald's and Simon Marketing Inc., the company that handled game promotions and security for the fast-food chain.

On Tuesday, authorities announced that federal officials working with McDonald's had broken up a criminal ring that they say rigged the two games, played by millions of McDonald's customers over the past six years.

The FBI alleges that the ring fixed winners of $1 million and other big-money prizes who then shared the cash with members of the group. In all, the ring "won" more than $13 million in prizes.

Eight people have been arrested so far. At the center of the scheme was Jerome Jacobson, 58, a security employee of Simon Marketing, authorities said.

If they had known their chances of winning had been reduced by the alleged conspiracy, customers "would not have gone to McDonald's as often as they did," Robinson said in explaining his suit. "They would have ordered a regular-size fries instead of a super-size fries."

McDonald's fired Simon Marketing on Tuesday. The chain also plans a $10 million sweepstakes from Aug. 30-Sept. 3 that will make instant $1 million and $100,000 winners of customers at randomly selected restaurants.

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.