Man will try to get stolen lotto money

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A lawyer representing a man who police say lost his winning lotto money to a crooked convenience store clerk said they’ll try to get the Texas Lottery Commission to pay him the money he’s owed. Attorney Sean Breen says he and his client, Willis Willis, plan on meeting with the state sometime next week.

When asked if he was prepared to sue the state, Breen replied, “Well, that’s definitely an option, but we hope it doesn’t come to that. We hope they readily give up the money.”

A spokesman for the commission would not comment earlier this week on if they plan on paying out the winning ticket a second time. Investigators told reports it’s the policy of the Lottery Commission to only pay out a winning ticket once, but that Willis could have money coming to him in the form of restitution.

Authorities are looking for Pankaj Joshi, 25, after they say he claimed a $1 lotto ticket that Willis brough into his Dallas-Forth Worth area convenience store. Joshi was indicted in September on one count of claiming a lottery prize by fraud after police say he cashed in a Mega Millions ticket at the Lotto Commission in August.

Officers say Joshi worked at the Lucky Food Store in Grand Prairie, Texas, where Willis was a regular customer. When Willis returned to the same store on May 31, 2009 and requested the clerk to check his Mega Millions ticket, police said Joshi told him that one of the tickets was a $2 winner and paid him that amount.

However, authorities said Joshi presented the winning ticket to the Lottery Commission less than a month later and received the prize in his bank account after lottery officials validated his ticket. The ticket had a winning value of $1,000,008.

"(He) completed the paperwork to claim the prize and a day or so lottery commission wired just over $750,000 into his bank account," said Detective Billy Petty, with the Austin police Department's white collar crimes unit. "The other $25,000 were toward the taxes that were due."

His co-workers said they never saw Joshi play the lottery, according to a search warrant affidavit.

When Joshi quit his job at the store and claimed a $1 million lottery jackpot in Austin, Joshi's co-workers were suspicious.

"He claimed the lottery," said Mick Hirani, the store manager. "When we saw on line that he claimed the ticket, it was suspicious and we called the lottery."

Investigators said they were able to determine through a pattern of behavior and timing that the legitimate purchaser of the winning ticket was Willis. That is when investigators said they presented their findings to the Travis County District Attorney's Office.

"We were able to recover around $365,000 of the winning that had not left the US yet," said Det. Petty. "That money has been impounded and is in the custody of the district attorney's office."

The Texas Lotto Commission suggests customers validate their tickets using the internet or "check-a-ticket" machines located in stores. It also suggests signing the back of your ticket, making it even harder for someone else to cash it.

The lottery fraud charge is a second-degree felony, punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison if there's a conviction. Joshi's bond is set at $10,000,000 and officials said he is considered a fugitive from justice. They believe he may have fled to his native home in Nepal.