Uk Shopkeeper Stole Customers Winning Lotto Ticket
03/21/2012 : SHOPKEEPERS JAILED FOR LOTTERY SCAM
Duo stole a customer’s GBP 156,659 winning lottery ticket after telling him it was worth only GBP 10.
A Norfolk UK shopkeeper and his wife were each jailed for 14 months this week after being convicted of stealing an ageing lottery winner's GBP 156,659 ticket and trying to cash it in as their own.
Alfred Jeevarajah, 45, and his 38-year-old wife Anne were exposed as thieves after lottery operator Camelot became suspicious over their claim, leading to their subsequent arrest and conviction in Norwich Crown Court for what Judge Alasdair Darroch called their “flagrant breach of trust”.
Winning ticket holder Gwyn Badham-Davies, 73, was conned when Anne Jeevarajah checked his ticket at her news agent shop in Hingham, Norfolk.
She scanned the ticket on her lottery terminal and would have seen it had matched five winning numbers and the bonus ball, qualifying Badham-Davies for a life-changing win. But Jeevarajah told him he had won only GBP 10 for matching three numbers, and she pocketed the real winning ticket.
One week later Alfred Jeevarajah tried to claim the winning prize from lottery operator Camelot, but officials became suspicious due to the delay over a claim for a ticket that had been scanned in the claimant’s own shop and called the police.
Camelot records showed the ticket had been bought at a Tesco store in Watton, Norfolk, and revealed the exact time of purchase. Jeevarajah was unable to confirm the details and admitted the ticket belonged to Badham-Davies, who has since successfully claimed his prize money.
Anne Jeevarajah pleaded guilty to theft and fraud while her husband admitted fraud.
Judge Darroch told the Sri Lankan pair: “It was a flagrant breach of trust. This is the sort of matter which the public expects to be dealt with very seriously.”
A Camelot spokeswoman warned: “We can monitor every single ticket purchased. The success of the National Lottery is built on player trust. Camelot will not allow that trust to be undermined in any way.”
