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Posted on: January 13, 2026, 06:04h.
Last updated on: January 13, 2026, 06:04h.
- Man tried claiming $115K Fantasy 5 ticket; staff flagged it stolen.
- District office verification and electronic logs helped investigators trace ticket.
- Areeb alleged uncle gave him ticket; later admitted false claim.
A Florida man who tried to cash a winning lottery ticket worth $115,733 at a Florida Lottery office ended up in jail after officials determined the ticket had been stolen weeks earlier.
Jawed Areeb, 26, appeared at the office in West Palm Beach on October 30 clutching the ticket for the Florida Lottery’s Fantasy 5 draw games, CBS12 reports. The six-figure payout indicates it was a jackpot-level win – likely matching all five numbers – although officials did not confirm this.
Ticket Traced
Lottery rules require prizes over $600 to be claimed at a district office, where stricter identification and verification procedures are in place.
Because Fantasy 5 is a draw-based lottery game, tickets are logged electronically at the time of purchase rather than revealed instantly like scratch-offs, allowing officials to identify the ticket as stolen during processing.
Despite the turn of events, Areeb maintained the ticket was his. During a subsequent investigation by a Florida Lottery law enforcement special agent, Areeb insisted he was given the ticket by his uncle who asked him to cash the ticket on his behalf.
When asked to provide his uncle’s name and the address of his place of business, Areeb gave the same address from which the ticket had been reported stolen. He was arrested and booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on January 3.
Serious Repercussions
Unfortunately for Areeb, under Florida law, a lottery ticket is considered personal property, and ownership of the ticket carries ownership of any prize it wins. As a result, attempting to cash a stolen winning ticket is treated as theft of the prize money itself, not merely the paper ticket.
If prosecutors charge the case based on the value of the attempted theft, it would fall under first-degree grand theft, because the amount exceeds $100K. That comes with a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $10K.
However, such maximum sentences are imposed rarely, especially in cases involving non-violent offenses and unsuccessful attempts to obtain the money.
In 2023, a Massachusetts store clerk’s attempt to cash a $3 million scratch-off ticket she stole from a customer saw her facing multiple felony charges of larceny and fraud. But the judge went easy on 24-year-old Carly Nunes, sentencing her in February 2024 to two years’ probation with the requirement that she continue treatment for substance abuse.
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Philip Conneller
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