Lotto victim finally gets a win

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Willis Willis has become one of America's favorite underdogs. According to his attorney, he's frequently approached by sympathetic Texans who want to know if he's ever going to receive his $1 million in lottery winnings that were stolen by a convenience store clerk last year.

On Tuesday, he got his second win - and while it wasn't as rich, it was much sweeter.

"I didn't know what to expect," said Willis. "But I'm grateful for the outcome."

A Travis County judge awarded lottery victim Willis what is left of his winnings, some $395,000 frozen in a Texas bank account. When asked what he is going to do with the money, Willis said take care of his daughter's school and then retire.

"I thought I would have to work until I couldn't anymore," he said. "I never thought I could retire."

This past May Willis brought his lottery ticket to a convenience store in his Dallas area suburb. According to investigators, the store clerk, Pankaj Joshi, told Willis that he only won $2 and gave him the cash. Joshi then cashed in Willis' $1 million prize and took off for Nepal.

Once investigators discovered the crime, they froze the money Joshi left in a Texas account, which amounts to $360,000. They recovered an additional $30,000 from friends of his in Texas.

After the Texas Lottery Commission ruled it wouldn't award the $1 million again, Willis' lawyers started fighting for the frozen loot with a motion to "restore property." This comes after the Travis County D.A's office officially indicted Joshi with "claiming a lottery prize by fraud."

It took Travis County Judge Bob Perkins less than five minutes to rule in Willis' favor.

"It's very good to know that he is going to get compensated to that extent," said Travis County D.A. assistant Patty Robertson. "It will be even better if we can recover the rest of it for him."

The D.A's office has discovered there is more of that prize money out there. Working with the State Department, they found Joshi had transferred an additional $290,000 to a bank account in Nepal. It is working with the government of Nepal to restore those funds as well.

After taxes were taken out of the winning lotto money, Joshi received about $750,000. If the State Department is able to restore all of the money transferred to Nepal, the total amount seized would be almost $700,000. Willis' lawyer Randy Howry has not heard yet if the money Willis receives will be taxed again.

"Right now Joshi has the IRS credit for the tax," said Howry. "For Willis to get it the Texas Lottery Commission will have to change their stance that Joshi is the winner and they don't seem willing to do that."

Bobby Heath said the Lottery had no comment on the case because of the threat of future litigation.