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What a dumbass. Being too lazy to check his own lotto numbers cost him 750 grand
The lotto-theft victim, whose million-dollar ticket was claimed by someone else, will not get any money from the Lotto Commission. They justified the decision by saying the suspect signed the back of the lotto ticket, so he is the winner in their eyes.
"It was just like they (the lottery) stole from me, also, instead of the guy who actually did it," said Willis Willis, who purchased the ticket. "That's the way I feel about it. ... It's just unbelievable, why they're not paying."
Authorities are looking for Pankaj Joshi, 25, after they say he claimed a $1 million lotto ticket that Willis brought into his Dallas-Fort Worth area convenience store. Joshi was indicted in September on one count of claiming a lottery prize by fraud after police say he cashed in Willis' rightful, winning Mega Millions ticket at the Lotto Commission in August.
The lottery fraud charge is a second-degree felony, punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison if there's a conviction. Joshi's bond is set at $10,000,000 and officials said he is considered a fugitive from justice. They believe he may have fled to his native home in Nepal.
Lawyers representing Willis called the commission's reaction "a red flag" and said they would continue their push that Willis get what's rightfully his - and not let the winnings go to a crook.
"This ought to be a major red flag to the people who play the lottery in Texas that something like this can happen," attorney Sean Breen said. "That the lottery can pay its own agent $1 million, and then have the nerve to tell Mr Willis he's not the winner, when everyone knows he is."
"If he's not going to get paid on this and they force legal action," Breen continued, "then there should be a vote of no confidence on this lottery. Nobody should feel safe about their alleged winnings. They should take that to heart."
Officers say Joshi worked at the Lucky Food Store in Grand Prairie, Texas, where Willis was a regular customer - every Friday, like clockwork, for four years.
When Willis brought the ticket to the store on May 31, 2009 and requested the clerk to check his Mega Millions number, police said Joshi told him that one of the tickets was a $2 winner and paid him that amount.
However, authorities said Joshi then presented the winning ticket to the Lottery Commission less than a month later and received the prize in his bank account after lottery officials validated his ticket. The ticket had a winning value of $1,000,008.
"(He) completed the paperwork to claim the prize, and a day or so (later) lottery commission wired just over $750,000 into his bank account," said Detective Billy Petty, with the Austin police Department's white collar crimes unit. "The other $250,000 were toward the taxes that were due."
His co-workers said they never saw Joshi play the lottery, according to a search warrant affidavit.
When Joshi quit his job at the store and claimed a $1 million lottery jackpot in Austin, Joshi's co-workers were su ious.
"He claimed the lottery," said Mick Hirani, the store manager. "When we saw online that he claimed the ticket, it was su ious and we called the lottery."
Investigators said they were able to determine through a pattern of behavior and timing that the legitimate purchaser of the winning ticket was Willis. That is when investigators said they presented their findings to the Travis County District Attorney's Office.
"We were able to recover around $365,000 of the winning that had not left the US yet," said Det. Petty. "That money has been impounded and is in the custody of the district attorney's office."
And what will happen to that cash, now that Willis isn't an official winner in the eyes of the Texas Lottery Commission?
"That's up in the air at this point in time," said attorney Randy Howry, who is also representing Willis. "That money is being held by the DA's office, and we don't know what's going to happen to that money. We're still hopeful. We've given the Texas Lottery Commission the opportunity to do the right thing before we take the next step."
As for Willis, he enjoyed playing the lottery and said he won't stop - though he may never play in Texas again. And he takes a fairly pragmatic approach to the whole situation. He's upset and disappointed, he says - but at the end of the day, it's money lost that he never had.
"I didn't have it, I still don't have it, and if I don't get it I'll be upset about it but there's no emotion of any sort," Willis said. "But I do need the money, I'll tell you that."
The Texas Lotto Commission suggests customers validate their tickets using the internet or "check-a-ticket" machines located in stores. It also suggests signing the back of your ticket, making it even harder for someone else to cash it.
What a dumbass. Being too lazy to check his own lotto numbers cost him 750 grand
Damn, that's a lotto money to lose out on.
They recovered some of the money. Why can't he have at least what they recovered. What a load of bull .
I have nightmares about buying the winning lotto ticket only to misplace it, or it getting destroyed, before I could turn it in and never being able to find it.
Thats why if I ever do win Im driving straight to Austin the exact moment I find out I have a winning ticket.
exactly, willis should be enjoying his 365k at the very least!
Oh but wait they found a way to save some money by legally ing someone over. Why not.
This is why I have no problem taking full advantage of anything I can, ethically right or not.
is his name really willis squared ?
Is it verified that the ticket really was his, or is it an unproven claim?
I would never trust anyone to check if I had a winning ticket. This just shows how easy it is for someone to steal your ticket. The clerk was stupid - he should've waited for several months, quit his job first, and then cashed in the ticket. Of course, if the guy is really back in Nepal, he's living high and they'll never catch him.
yeah, keep telling yourself that. All that makes you is an unethical piece of , just like them.
Ethical behavior isn't an "I'll do it if they do it" proposition. What you're proposing is a cop out of the highest degree, and probably the same excuse s bags all over the world use to act like crooks.
I think B2B just got his ass handed to him.
I will. Me and mine first. You later. Ethics don't exist anymore. I'm merely adapting and overcoming.
LOL @ bringing an unsigned lotto ticket worth a million dollars to a convenience store owner in 2009. Dude must be old.
dateline did a lotto spacial it shows how the workers and family members of these stores do this all the time. You can see how dateline avoided accusing anyone of wrong doing so they don't get sued but the relatives and workers are guilty as .
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30550956..._chris_hansen/
SIGN YOUR TICKET. No one else can legally cash it with your signature on it. If the old dude had signed it, and the clerk fraudulently cashed it with another person's signature, Lotto Texas would have had to make good on it.
They shouldn't allow clerks to play the lotto.
moron
This is pretty stupid of the Lotto Commission. How much sales do you think they are losing because of this?
Last edited by PM5K; 11-04-2009 at 11:06 AM.
Very few, imo.
We bought another ticket last night, despite this story. I think the TLC sort of sucks for not honoring it, but they haven't definitively proven that this guy was the holder of the winning ticket, and regardless, he didn't sign the ticket.
So what did we do? We signed the damn ticket. Also? I check numbers online when I do play, I don't rely on the honesty of strangers with a million dollars literally sitting in their hands to tell me I've won.
Damn that Christ Hansen is a sneaky dude.
I've heard about people with two first names, but this is ridiculous.
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