LOTTERY NEWS!
The Million Dollar Lottery Steal!
Last week Nabal Jaghab and Karim Jaghab were arrested after trying to swindle a customer out of a New York State lottery ticket worth $1,000,000 (about £620,000)! The unnamed victim contacted police after becoming suspicious of the behaviour of the father and son who owned and managed the Peninsula Deli & Grocery where he bought his ticket.
The Million Dollar Lottery Steal! As it turns out, the lottery player’s misgivings about the Jaghabs appear to have been spot on. The “Unwrap the Cash” lottery ticket was in fact worth 1,000 times more than he had been paid - $1,000,000!
It is reported that the victim became suspicious when he observed Karim scan his ticket and “File claim: jackpot winner – please return original ticket to customer along with a claim receipt” appeared on the screen. However instead of returning the lottery ticket and informing the customer of the win as the lottery machine advised, Karim pocketed the million dollar ticket and gave him $1,000 in cash from the till instead.
The accuser, who does not have strong English, left the store with the $1,000 but returned the following day and confronted the alleged lottery thieves. Backtracking quickly, Nabal told the winner that they would pay him $10,000, which he claimed was the true amount of the prize, if the customer promised not contact the authorities. Not believing the Jaghabs’ claims, the victim contacted the Nassau county police who proceeded to arrest the father and son after recovering the million-dollar ticket. Not only are the Jahabs now accused of grand larceny for attempting to cheat their customer out of his prize but the store is also in hot water for failing to comply with lottery policy.
New York State legislation holds that any prize over $600 must be verified and redeemed through the lottery and not paid out in cash at the place of purchase.
The fact that the Jahabs chose to pay the man in cash, when they were under no obligation to do so and would not have been eligible for reimbursement seems to be strong evidence against their case. The Jaghabs were arraigned on Saturday November 23 2013 on grand larceny charges and accused of attempting to defraud the anonymous lottery winner out of over £600,000! The Jaghabs lawyer Matthew Fleischer has entered a defence plea claiming that there was simply a mistake and the situation was not caused by an intention to defraud the victim, but instead by a malfunctioning lottery machine scanner.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that when there are millions of dollars or pounds on the line even honest people’s principles can quickly go out the window.
" It shouldn’t come as a surprise that when there are millions of dollars or pounds on the line even honest people’s principles can quickly go out the window. "