Business Notes CONTESTS

The odds of winning the spiffy Mustang convertible in the Alpha Beta supermarket chain's California Dreamin' sweepstakes, the entry form said, were about 1 in 3.7 million. But for Navy Mechanic James Lee of San Diego, it was a cinch. In fact, a year after claiming the Mustang, Lee was lucky enough to win a $28,500 Chevy Corvette in a Taco Bell sweepstakes. Last week a federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted Lee, Marketing Executives John Curtin III and Kevin Kissane and two of their relatives on mail-fraud charges of rigging the sweepstakes. Curtin and Kissane, who operate C&K Marketing of New Jersey (1987 sales: $9 million), allegedly awarded three prizes to friends, and in at least one of those cases kept the money for themselves. The C&K officials, who have conducted contests for dozens of major companies, including PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble, have denied any wrongdoing.