In the latest twist on an older story, a Dallas man is now suing various parties to try and recover the $1 Million that he missed out on when a sales clerk stole his winning lottery ticket.
It was back in 2009 that Willis Willis, a retired maintenance man stopped to check his ticket at the Lucky Food Store in Grand Prairie. The clerk, Pankaj Joshi, and a college student at the time told him he had lost – whilst secretly keeping the ticket.
Pankaj then claimed the $1 Million prize himself, and promptly fled the country taking the money with him, or so he thought.
Subsequently indicted on charges of fraudulently claiming a lottery ticket, police have managed to recover $395,000 from his bank accounts. Unfortunately this still leaves $355,000 missing (after taxes were deducted).
It also still leaves Willis waiting for his winnings.
After extensive investigations by police and lottery agents, the lottery company, Gtech Corp, still insist that Pankaj was the ticket bearer and therefore the rightful claimant to the prize.
A spokesman said that prizes can only be paid out once, and lottery officials are not responsible for any lost or stolen tickets.
This is of course despite the police, County prosecutors and a court judge all stating that Willis is the true ticket holder and winner of the prize.
Will cheated lottery winner Willis ever receive his winnings? We’ll keep you posted.
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