Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation: Windsor mother, daughter face $3.5M lottery fraud charge
The Ontario Provincial Police arrested a Windsor, Ont., woman and her daughter on Wednesday on charges of stealing her husband's winning multimillion-dollar lottery ticket.
The police began their investigation when Bobbi-Jo Arnold, 39, attempted to claim the $3.5 million prize from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation on April 4.
Her mother Mary Patricia Moore, 59, and other family members accompanied her to the OLGC's Toronto office.
Shortly after the two made the claim, Moore's husband of 10 years, 81-year-old Gerald Moore, filed a civil suit against his wife. In it, he claims his wife stole his winning ticket for the Lotto 6/49 draw on April 2, verified the winning numbers and gave it to Arnold to cash in — allegations Moore has denied.
The night after the lottery win, Patricia told her husband she was going to spend the night at Arnold's house, the suit says.
Instead, the suit says Moore and her daughter drove to Toronto "under the cover of darkness" to claim the prize.
Patricia Moore, who filed for a divorce in August, then gave $1.5 million of the winnings to her daughter, the suit alleges.
The lawsuit also claims Moore manipulated her husband's "medication for the purpose of rendering him physically, emotionally and psychologically incapable" of understanding the situation.
The allegations have not been proven in court.
The OLGC has also been named in the suit because of alleged negligence in investigating the winner of the jackpot.
Patricia Moore and Arnold each face four criminal charges, including fraud over $5,000, and are to appear in provincial court on Thursday.