Oct 29, 2009 10:55 pm US/Eastern
I-Team: Lottery Clerks Investigated For Stealing
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
You have the winning ticket -- but the lottery agent gets the prize.
The I-Team says state lottery investigators suspect some store clerks around the state are taking the winnings of unsuspecting lottery players.
Chief Correspondent Joe Shortsleeve gathered exclusive details on how the state is cracking down on what could be... dirty dealers.
It's Wednesday morning in Winthrop and a large white SUV pulls up in front of the White Hen Pantry on Revere Street.
This is the jackpot for the state's lottery investigators. They're looking for lottery agents who steal their customer's prizes. And on this day, they say the payout was big, very big.
The I-Team learned of four stores -- spread across the state -- which have been under surveillance because customers complained they had been cheated.
Loyal lottery player Tom McCarthy is one customer who complained. He says the owner of White Hen Pantry in Winthrop tried to scam him -- telling him his five hundred dollar winning scratch ticket was only worth one hundred bucks.
McCarthy says he told the owner, Adel Riad, "that was a five hundred dollar winner and I am not leaving here until I get my money, he starts a big argument."
McCarthy got his money and he also got the attention of the state lottery. They sent in an undercover agent – and the I-Team watched as the investigator -- acting a little confused and distracted-- tried to redeem two real winning tickets-- one worth a thousand bucks.
And guess what -- the store manager only paid the agent five dollars on one ticket -- and said the other was no good. Days later… Joe Shortsleeve confronted the store owner with a TV camera.
Joe: "The lottery says you took a winning ticket worth one thousand ticket from a winner and kept it for yourself."
Adel Riad: "I don't take anything."
Joe: "We were here… we watched you scan a winning thousand dollar ticket and then you told the man it was not a winner."
Riad: "Ok, I don't say anything like this."
The store owner -- a licensed lottery agent -- showed us the ticket which he had said was no good. He told Shortsleeve he was confused by the print out which clearly says "file claim" -- something he should know means-- that the winnings are so big they have to be claimed in person at lottery headquarters.
Joe: "You are a licensed lottery agent you would know what "file claim" means."
Riad: "But this is the first time, I don't know."
The lottery says his store's computer has registered "file claim" at least a half a dozen times. But Riad says usually his store employees work the lottery computer… not him.
Minutes later state lottery investigators descended on the store yanking his computer terminal and removing all the scratch tickets.
State Treasurer Tim Cahill over sees the lottery. He says these sting operations send a message to players and agents.
"We take this very seriously and we stand for no shanigans what so ever. If people win, they should get their winnings and not be played in any way shape or form."
But with so many games and so many numbers -- many lottery players admit they don't always know when they've really won something.
So what do you do when you get confused? Most people hand the ticket over to the cashier.
And that could have been a problem if you went to Mac's on Middlesex Street in Lowell.
The I-Team was there as lottery investigators rushed in recently and ripped out all the agents' lottery terminals and packed up tens of thousands of dollars worth of scratch tickets.
Investigators they say the owner ripped off their under cover agent for nine hundred dollars.
Shortsleeve confronted the store owner Anshuman Gosalia recently.
Joe: "Do you know why the lottery is here?"
Gosalia: "No, I have no idea."
Joe: "The lottery is alleging that you were stealing winning lottery tickets."
Gosalia: "No....no...."
In fact, lottery records indicate that Gosalia personally cashed 39 winning tickets worth more than $45,000 since last year. He won the lottery on average twice a month since early 2008.
Joe: "The lottery has been watching you and they say you have been stealing winning lottery tickets from people."
Gosalia: "No...no I don't think so."
In June of 2008 that Lowell lottery agent won the lottery eight times.
Now over the past three years, the lottery says it has opened investigations into 35 store operators and says 15 tried to scam the under cover investigator.
With regards to the store owner in Lowell and the store owner in Winthrop... they will have a chance to explain themselves at a lottery hearing.
An attorney for the White Hen Pantry Chain says store video surveillance cameras capture the store owner, Adel Riad, showing the ticket to other store employees which they claim back up his suggestion that he was confused. The attorney also points out that Riad did not attempt to cash it. The lottery says it stands by the store owner's suspension.
The lottery says the best way to protect yourself...before you hand any ticket to any clerk....sign the back...that way no one else can ever claim it.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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