Spanish Lottery Vendor Sentenced for €4.7M Jackpot Fraud in A Coruña
Details of the Lottery Fraud Case
Vendor's Deception and Attempted Fraud
MADRID, June 12 (Reuters) - A lottery vendor has been sentenced in Spain to three-and-a-half years in prison for cheating the winner of a €4.7 million ($5.4 million) jackpot out of his prize in 2012, court documents show.
A court in the northwestern city of A Coruña said the vendor realised that the customer had a substantial win when he asked him to check his numbers, but he deliberately deceived the ticket-holder by telling him none of them had come up.
The vendor subsequently tried to cash in the prize by claiming he had found the winning ticket in his shop.
Lottery Administration's Response
The local lottery administration refrained from paying out the prize, however, and kept the ticket under custody while attempting to find out who owned it. Despite that, the lottery seller tried repeatedly to claim the prize over an eight-year period, the court documents show.
Outcome for the True Winner and Legal Proceedings
The true owner of the winning ticket died in 2014, but the court ordered the full prize be paid out to the victim's heirs.
It found the vendor guilty of aggravated fraud. The judgment is not final and subject to appeal before the country's Supreme Court.
Additional Information
($1 = 0.8688 euros)
(Reporting by Javi West Larrañaga; Editing by David Latona and Helen Popper)
