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Tag: stolen lottery ticket

  • Florida Man Jailed After Trying to Cash Stolen $115K Fantasy 5 Ticket

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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.

    Florida Lottery, Fantasy 5, stolen lottery ticket, lottery fraud, first-degree grand theft
    Jawed Areeb, above, was arrested after allegedly attempting to cash a stolen $115,733 Fantasy 5 lottery ticket at a Florida Lottery office in West Palm Beach. Investigators say the ticket had been reported stolen weeks earlier. (Image: Palm Beach County Jail)

    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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  • A store clerk stole a $1 million lottery ticket, authorities say

    A store clerk stole a $1 million lottery ticket, authorities say

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    A Tennessee man only learned he was the winner of a $1 million jackpot when detectives called to tell him his winning ticket had been stolen, according to authorities.The lottery winner, who did not want to be publicly identified, bought two winning tickets at a Shell gas station in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release on Monday. One winning ticket had a prize of $40 and the other was the $1 million ticket.A clerk at the gas station stole the ticket and tried to collect the prize, authorities said.Store video obtained by investigators of the Tennessee Lottery shows Meet Patel scanning the tickets, according to authorities. To save time, the customer had only scratched off the front bar code, and then asked Patel to check if the tickets were winners, authorities told WTVF.“If you scratch off the front bar code, it will tell you if it’s a winner or not, regardless of whether you scratch off everything showing how much you won,” Lt. Det. Steve Craig told WTVF.Patel then placed the $1 million ticket in the trash, authorities said. Later, the video allegedly shows him taking out the trash, after which he removes the winning ticket and puts it in his pocket.“Mr. Patel is then seen later in the video celebrating in the store after scratching off the front of the ticket and learning it was a $1 million winner,” Det. Dennis Ward said in the news release.For any prize of $200,000 or more, players must claim their winnings at the Tennessee Lottery’s Nashville headquarters. Patel, 23, tried to claim his prize from the Tennessee Lottery, but employees there were suspicious, according to the news release.“He went to the Tennessee Lottery Commission to claim the ticket as his own and through their normal line of questioning there were enough red flags for them to say, ‘Hey, you need to get all of your affairs in order and come back to us and we’re gonna hold on to the ticket,’” Craig told WTVF.Patel is currently being held on a charge of theft over $250,000 at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center, the sheriff’s office told CNN. His bond is set at $100,000 and a hearing is scheduled for July 30.“It’s pretty obvious. It’s good enough for me to put in front of 12 jurors and make sure that they all come to the same conclusion,” Craig said.The sheriff’s office reviewed the video to help identify the man who bought the ticket. Less than a day later, Ward told the man, who is a father, he was a winner and convinced him to claim his winnings.“The feel-good side of this story is the (father) never knew he was the winner until we made contact with him,” Craig said. “That is absolutely life-changing money.”

    MURFREESBORO, Tenn. —

    A Tennessee man only learned he was the winner of a $1 million jackpot when detectives called to tell him his winning ticket had been stolen, according to authorities.

    The lottery winner, who did not want to be publicly identified, bought two winning tickets at a Shell gas station in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release on Monday. One winning ticket had a prize of $40 and the other was the $1 million ticket.

    A clerk at the gas station stole the ticket and tried to collect the prize, authorities said.

    Store video obtained by investigators of the Tennessee Lottery shows Meet Patel scanning the tickets, according to authorities. To save time, the customer had only scratched off the front bar code, and then asked Patel to check if the tickets were winners, authorities told WTVF.

    “If you scratch off the front bar code, it will tell you if it’s a winner or not, regardless of whether you scratch off everything showing how much you won,” Lt. Det. Steve Craig told WTVF.

    Patel then placed the $1 million ticket in the trash, authorities said. Later, the video allegedly shows him taking out the trash, after which he removes the winning ticket and puts it in his pocket.

    “Mr. Patel is then seen later in the video celebrating in the store after scratching off the front of the ticket and learning it was a $1 million winner,” Det. Dennis Ward said in the news release.

    For any prize of $200,000 or more, players must claim their winnings at the Tennessee Lottery’s Nashville headquarters. Patel, 23, tried to claim his prize from the Tennessee Lottery, but employees there were suspicious, according to the news release.

    “He went to the Tennessee Lottery Commission to claim the ticket as his own and through their normal line of questioning there were enough red flags for them to say, ‘Hey, you need to get all of your affairs in order and come back to us and we’re gonna hold on to the ticket,’” Craig told WTVF.

    Patel is currently being held on a charge of theft over $250,000 at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center, the sheriff’s office told CNN. His bond is set at $100,000 and a hearing is scheduled for July 30.

    “It’s pretty obvious. It’s good enough for me to put in front of 12 jurors and make sure that they all come to the same conclusion,” Craig said.

    The sheriff’s office reviewed the video to help identify the man who bought the ticket. Less than a day later, Ward told the man, who is a father, he was a winner and convinced him to claim his winnings.

    “The feel-good side of this story is the (father) never knew he was the winner until we made contact with him,” Craig said. “That is absolutely life-changing money.”

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