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May 20, 2008 5:09 pm US/Central
Scratch-Off Winner Says Clerk Stole Her Ticket
ARLINGTON (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
North Texas grandmother Anna Pound says she won a Texas Lottery Scratch-Off game last September but lost the prize when she tried to cash in with a clerk at an Arlington convenience store.
Pound played a $3 scratch-off ticket called 'Cash Word' and realized she won $500 when her granddaughter checked her ticket. But that's not what she was told when she tried to get her money.
"He come back and he told me it's not a winner. And I said it is at least a $10, I know," Pound says.
Believing something wasn't right; Pound says she wanted to get her $3 card. "I held up my hand and I said 'I want my ticket back'. I paid for it, it's my ticket. 'I tore it up', he said." But that wasn't actually the case.
After Pound contacted the Texas Lottery Commission their investigation revealed that clerk Haji Khan cashed in the $500 prize three days after Pound tried to collect on her ticket.
The clerk told lottery officials that he cashed the ticket after mistakenly putting it in his pocket and had tried to find Pound to give her the money, but couldn't locate her.
The 72-year-old grandmother says she has shopped at the PAK Food Store at 300 Randol Mill Road for 20 years.
A Tarrant County Grand Jury looked into criminal charges against Khan but didn't indict the clerk. Pound says that means Khan didn't have to pay her back.
Lottery officials advise anyone who believes they have a winning ticket to sign it before trying to claim their prize.
The Texas Lottery Commission has suspended ticket sales at PAK Food Store and could revoke its license at the end of the month.
Apparently Pound isn't the only Texan who has walked away empty handed. According to a lottery official, since this time last year there's evidence that nine other lottery winners have not been properly paid.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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