SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Two brothers kept quiet for six years about the $5 million winning lottery ticket they'd bought at their parents' store in Syracuse.
Andy N. Ashkar, 34, of Camillus, and his brother, Nayel N. Ashkar, 36, of Cicero, came forward March 1 of this year to claim the $5 million top prize in the $500,000,000 Extravaganza scratch-off game, lottery officials said.
That was 11 days before the prize would've expired.
"It's unusual, highly unusual," lottery spokeswoman Carolyn Hapeman said Tuesday of the six-year lapse on such a large prize.
Andy Ashkar bought the ticket at his parents' Green Ale Market at 2208 E. Fayette St. in Syracuse, in 2006, the lottery said.
Ashkar delayed redeeming it until March 1 of this year, at the lottery's customer service center in Schenectady. The prize would've expired March 12, Hapeman said.
The reason for the delay, according to the lottery's news release: Ashkar was concerned that the winning ticket "could negatively influence his life if he did not plan properly before being publicly introduced."
Ashkar said he did not want the winning ticket to influence his engagement and then marriage, according to the news release.
"The younger brother also said that during that time, he decided to share his winnings with his brother, Nayel, to show his appreciation for all that Nayel had done for him during his life," the news release said.
The lottery's announcement of the winning ticket was delayed for seven months partly because its security unit investigated for possible fraud, as it does whenever the winner is someone related to the owner of the store that sold the ticket, Hapeman said.
"It's part of our routine procedure to put that on retailer hold, where our investigators contact the folks who presented the winning ticket, and also the people from the store," Hapeman said.
After its investigation, which included taking sworn statements from the winners, the lottery determined the scratch-off ticket was bought legitimately, she said.
Sara Ashkar, the wife of Nayel Ashkar, answered the door Tuesday at their home in Cicero. She said news of her family's winnings was spreading fast. Holding both her landline house phone and cell phone, she said family and friends had been calling all afternoon to express their surprise and excitement.
"It's crazy," she said. "Hard to believe. It's still sinking in." She said she's known about the winning ticket for some time but didn't know the announcement would be Tuesday. Nayel Ashkar said he and his brother want to wait for the press conference to tell their story. He didn't know when the press conference would be.
The Ashkars declined to comment further. Andy Ashkar could not be reached for comment.
Andy Ashkar is the business manager at Romano Toyota in East Syracuse. Nayel Ashkar is finance manager at Honda of Ithaca.
Nayel and Sara Ashkar paid $236,000 for their house in Cicero in March 2008, according to The Post-Standard's archives. Andy Ashkar paid $290,000 for his house in Camillus in August 2011, according to the archives.
Lottery officials are aware of gimmicks that retailers have tried to use with scratch-off tickets, Hapeman said. One involves retailers or their associates checking the bar codes on the tickets to look for winners before scratching them off.
That can still be done, "but not without us knowing about it," Hapeman said. Ohio lottery officials last month announced that undercover investigators had caught a dozen clerks and store owners using barcode scanning to steal winnings. They would scan customers' tickets, see that they were winners, then lie to the customers that they weren't. The clerks or owners would then claim the winnings for themselves or their friends.
The New York Lottery regularly changes its security measures to detect fraud, Hapeman said. Lottery officials have uncovered cases of retailers who weren't entitled to the tickets they were claiming, and those people were denied the prize, she said.
"There are as many things to look out for as there are retailers and human beings and all their frailties," Hapeman said. "We just have to make sure our security unit does due diligence. They're trained in ways to protect all of our lottery players."
The lottery will launch an investigation any time it has information that a winning ticket went to the retailer himself, one of his employees, a relative or even a friend of his family, Hapeman said.
"Just in fairness to everyone," she said.
The Green Ale Market, where Andy Ashkar bought the winning ticket, is a rundown store in a tough neighborhood. It was closed and dark Tuesday afternoon. No hours or closed sign was posted. Several customers, including a young boy with a fistful of dollar bills, approached the store and were surprised to see it closed. A cooler with soft drinks and gallons of milk could be seen through the gated front door.
A pile of leaves and a discarded scratch-off ticket sat in the corner of the market's locked entryway.
The lottery had to rush the announcement about the Ashkars because of media inquiries, Hapeman said.
She noted that with all prizes of $1 million or more, the office requires players to attend a news conference to discuss the prize claim and participate in a check presentation.
But the lottery said it has not yet determined a date for the news conference. The brothers are willing to participate, Hapeman said. She didn't know where they kept the $5 million ticket for six years.
WTH ? tickets are good for 6 years in NY. ?
I find it interesting that it took them just 11 days short of the deadline to get their act together. What that money would have done for them 5+ years ago will never do for them today.
Congrats! to them,,, hope they spend the money wisely.
The ticket is good for 6-years? How could that be and why did this story leave that important information out?
I don't appreciate that the article releases where they live, work and how much they paid for their houses!
Doesn't that go beyond releasing enough information about the winners to keep the game fair?
I smell a rat.
pretty strange when did liljimys extended their deadline to cash in tickets ... weird
It's a scratch game.
Scratch games expire a year (or 6 months, or whatever the state's expiration period is) after the game ends. Obviously, that game was being sold for at least five years.
These days, most states end their scratch games after a shorter period, but I guess the NY Lottery kept that one open for a while -- probably because of the missing big winner, who ironically was holding on to the winning ticket purposely.
How much you paid for your house and it's adress is all public information here. All you have to do is go on the county GIS reality information program and you can even see if they paid their last tax bill and how much.
Having a scratch game go on for several years is not that unusual.
There are several Massachusetts $20 scratchers which began in 2007-2008, that are still being sold today.
States of this size sell upwards of 20 million+ tickets for some of the bigger games, and it takes time to sell them all.
Two of these games are the "Billion Dollar Blockbuster" and "Billion Dollar Bonanza". (Both $20 scratchers).
People do continue to buy tickets based on an outstanding big winner.........
I'm sure the state was very happy to sell all those unwanted tickets.
Are you sure it isn't some sweet pink swine?
TMI... but i am pretty sure they moved by now.
It could just be a little fishy
I'm with you. Something smells fishy! Not saying the winners did anything but..... Who waits 6 years during an awful econ. like this to cash in on a huge lifeline like this? Why wait 11days before the end of the game? The ticket was purchased at the Parents store. How easy would it be for them to tell a customer the winning ticket was only worth $20 and pocket the ticket. Then wait to see if the customer realizes the mistake...and if they do just say sorry and hand the ticket back. After 6 years who is going to remember no video would still exist so they can come up with a story about waiting to get everything in order and cash the ticket. What some people won't do for a couple Million bucks........
On the other Hand I'm probably full of it!! LOL Congrats to the winners.
Stop posting meme-type pictures. Last time I'm saying it.
Do you think there is some foul play with the brothers?
A good reason to forbid family members or employees buying tickets from their own place.
This doesn't come close to passing the smell test.
Well said petergrfn,
exacly what I was thinking.............
If they REALLY want tickets they can get them at a different store.
This is why I have a problem with employees buying at the store they work at. I seen this too many times in NYC stores. $20 rolls come in the next day they are finish and not many customer buy. I had employee them me they scratch 10 or more and how terrible the roll was. In one store they was selling the losers I assumes since the tickets numbers were out of order and roll was ripped up like they had #001-003 then you #015 was by itself and so forth. Many games was like that. I believe they when through the whole row and left the buds. Called NY to complain many time and they don't care. I only play at vending machines and place I know the tickets are not being tampered with.
That game was still around last year. Three weeks ago i watched a lady tell the clerk what tickets she wanted and had him scratch/scan to see if they were winners. She was gone before i got to talk to her. Also notified some other peeps that they were throwing away second chance tics. The vending machines are a good start, but they need to do a better job protecting players, especially the older ones.
nobody would wait 6 years to collect this kind of a win. combined with the fact that they "bought" the ticket from their own parents' store pretty much says to me they were waiting til the last minute so nobody would figure out the truth.
I think there's going to be more to this story.
I agree. I think it's very likely that they pulled a switch on the true winner but needed to wait to make sure the truth didn't come out. Looks like they are going to get away with it too. Any video tape is long since gone and I'm sure the real winner has forgotten redeeming a ticket six years ago and even if he/she did remember, there is no way to prove it now. I'm sure the Lottery realizes that the brothers are pulling a fast one but apparently after looking into their claim for months have found nothing to show that the claim is fradulent.
I wish there was a "like" button because you took the words right out of my mouth.
I agree w/ all who think there's something wrong w/ this,
if the lottery has to pay this cause there's no video, they'll need to make changes.
for example, videos will have to be kept longer, or expiration would change to 1 year from when tix. were sold,
if they scan a ticket they know when that ticket was sold.
I am going to say outright the lottery may have erred in paying the claim and that the Ashkars are more likely not the legitimate owners of the ticket, against my preffered tone which is: the lottery erred in paying the claim, and that the Ashakrs are not the legitimate owners of the ticket.
The time delay in presenting the ticket for claim, while legal, suggested absence of confidence in ownership, and clear fear of lottery and public challenge to any mounted claim.
The Ashkars said:
" The reason for the delay, according to the lottery's news release: Ashkar was concerned that the winning ticket "could negatively influence his life if he did not plan properly before being publicly introduced." "
" Ashkar said he did not want the winning ticket to influence his engagement and then marriage, according to the news release."
The statement is weak and poor, and does not add up with the very aim and motive behind a lottery ticket purchaser, which is, to win the grand prize in the very game that they had purchased a ticket for. So, it is severely unlikely that the Ashkars did not know, understand, what they were doing, and its implications.
The article said:
"The younger brother also said that during that time, he decided to share his winnings with his brother, Nayel, to show his appreciation for all that Nayel had done for him during his life,"
The above claim of Ashkar's younger brother is not only untrue but extremnly weak, and is a carefully calculated ploy designed to influence the un-informed and the naive with a hypocritical claim of a bleeding heart of charity, to reward his older brother with $2.5m for what he has done for him in life, while the heavier and greater priority for his parents, the very people that channelled the beginnings of his existence on earth and supported his early weaknesses and helplessness, remain discarded and relegated aside, as they continue to slave away dangerously in a run-down store that was unlikely to have brought in $50,000 in net profits after all expense, at the end fo each year during the past 6 years, in a though neiborhood.
The names Nayel and Ashkar are Parsi, from Iran, and from all indications the family background of the store owners and the presumed winners are Iranian origins.
The vast majority of party stores in tough US neighborhoods in the east coast and midwest are owned, run and operated by immigrants from the middle east and South Asia.
A significant population of immigrants to the USA carry, and gladly extend the benefits of their earnings in the USA with family, and extended family, and communities of origins, wherever there are on the this planet.
Many lottery winners, regardless of national origins have often cited members of their families as the priority for the distribution of their newly found wealth. It is just highly un-likely that Nayel Ashkar would dump half his winnings into his older brother, just like that, even after 6 years of mental exercises, and planning on how to write the script and tale, of how he came into possession of a scrtach-off ticket worth $5.0m that Syracuse NYwill buy.
I beleive that New York Lottery players need more explanations from their lottery commision, board or authority about the lottery's payment of $5m 6years after the ticket was purchased, and based on such instruments as sworn affidavits, which are legal but are consistently used by lawyers to swaive the course of justice and to defeat the application and realization of justice, whereever there are needed.
The whole claim is a negation of the successes of the Iowa lottery with the attempted claim of a winning $14M or so Hot Lotto ticket, by a New York attorney across America in Des Moins.
If the Ashkars are not the legitimate owners of the ticket, then let Karma bring to bear upon them, far more appropriate penalties than the state could ever imagine or able to do, by law
If the Ashkars are the legitimate owners of the ticket, then let Karma allow them to enjoy the benefits of the ticket.
Whoever is the true owner of this tciket, let the payments made by the lottery come back to them, from who ever has the funds, now.
Tickets are not scanned when they are sold and a lot of tickets come from vending machines. What the states could easily do is program the terminals to make a different and distinct sound anytime larger prize tickets are checked by the clerk.
In a casino its imposable to win over a couple hundred bucks without everyone in sight knowing because of the sound. The terminals already make noise, but make no distinction between $5. and $5 million winners.
I agree.
And I think that the Ashkars, and the lottery should now be legitimate targets for public investigation, by both the FBI and the US Department of Justice.
Surly the lottery tracks the location of such large tickets and knows where they were sold......
Store owners should be required to publicly post notice of the sale of all large winning tickets.
I agree.
And the Ashkars, the New York Lottery should both be investigated by the US Department of Justice and the FBI for possible breach of public trust in making payments on an instrument that is marred and laced with all-around signes and signposts, that something serious is wrong with ticket ownership claims, history, and tendered oral affidavits.
Something is very very strange here. No reasonable/normal person waits 6 years. I wonder if perhaps an elderly relative might have won and they waited for him/her to die...the only scenario I can come up with...lol
Or someone brought in a ticket and said "Will you check this please" and the clerk replied, "You won $20."
I agree.
Everything about this story, or more precisely about the payment made by Syracuse, calls for more serious defenses than the complicit bureua has allowed to be shared with a thinking worl, as the non-frivolous explanation for possibly allowing, and authorizing a fraud.
The trend is now set, for now. Any store clerk can keep a winning ticket and just copy the Ashkars story line plot, and apply it to themselves two week before expiration.
If they did steal the ticket I have to wonder if they felt sorry for the person every time they came back into the store or they laughed at him for being so stupid that he didn't know a winning ticket when he saw one?
But wait 6 years??? The wait time alone guarantees a lot of people will be raising questions. So maybe the winner was elderly/sick and died. Just call me Nancy Drew. Book One.."The Mystery of the Six Year Old Lottery Ticket." I just need to pack my suitcase with 3 crisp linen dresses, call my football player boyfriend Ned and hop in my convertible and drive to the "winning" store to investigate.
I would guess that its a regular customer who would suspect them and make a claim.
Right..they waited for the person to die. Bet he/she was elderly.
I agree with all that you have said and I join your comments:
The New York Lottery board's credibility as a genuine custodian of the public trust should be suspended, until Syracuse, NY tells the world the true story of why it paid $5m money to the Ashkars with a decrepitude claim and a defective law.
I feel that an independent body in NY should organize, conduct research, collect petittions and sworn affidavits and challenge the lottery, with the same types of intruments that they had relied upon to pay $5m to a questionable holder.
The credibity and reliability of the Ashkars' claim is missing, bad faid abounds, and complicity is the replacementt name for the NY lottery.
Yeah, or at least wait til they stop coming into the store. Thats one customer they were happy to lose. lol.
The lottery investigated, found no wrong doing and awarded the prize. Case closed my friend.....
This would make a good short story for a book! I think the more likely answer is they brothers may have done some investigating into the Law and found the Statute of Limitiations for Theft in NY is probably 5-6 years. So even if somehow there was any evidence of their wrongdoing no charges can be brought against them......
May they live happily ever after, without the interference of envious conspiracy theorists.
It could be argued that the theft didn't take place til they cashed the ticket........
May they suffer the torture of a guilty conscience for an extended period of time
Decisions can be reversed if new info comes to light.
Ok Peter, you and Brian can write the book.
That's true but overturning the states decision is like overturning the refs decision in a football game.
The evedence will need to be "conclusive"
The Hardy boys will offer their assistance, as long as their buddy Chet is willing to help. LOL
Did Chet play center on the same team as Ned ?
my sisters went through all the books and could'nt dig that out.
ok lol The more the merrier. I don't remember a Chet in Nancy Drew. Wasn't Chet one of the Hardy boys friends? I know Nancy's friend "George" (A girl) had a boyfriend but I don't think it was Chet. I don't think Chet was on the same team as Ned. But maybe there was some connection on both TV series in the late 1970's?
It is indeed a pity and highly regrettable, that you grant with much ease, exemption to a government agency, which has acted in a way that reflects defectiveness across a broad spectrum of expected expertise, in the exercise of duty in this matter.
The mood in this posts regarding this matter verifies that the majority opinion of the posters is that, there is defectiveness in the actions of the lottery in the handling of the matter and is vastly un-surportive of your position.
A tree cannot make a forest, and while a crowd can cook for one man/woman, one man/woman cannot cook for a crowd. Along these lines of thought, there is accuracy in my further representation that the concerted opinions and comments of the posters in this forum, goes against your rendition.
The lottery like many state agencies are largely un-regulated bodies, and this quirk/loophole in state laws often allows them to do to its people, harmful and oppressive acts, and get away with it, until challenged, not administratively, but through the courts. On the other hand, a public for-profit corporation providing exactly the same comparable service to a state resident may not get away with it, if challenged at the administrative level by a body/commission/bureau which has fielded a complaint from a consumer.
It is exactly because of the lenient attitude that persons like you, take towards government agencies that, these agencies feel immensely empowered by the silence of your likes, and interpret these silences as endorsements, that their ineptitudeness were valid public votes of confidence on actually totally non-existing excellent performances.
Perhaps, your comments were designed to be provocative for the sake of generating and advancing an argumentative dubious agenda
I believe that New York lottery players are not going to sleep on this and are going to go out into the streets, with pads, and gather affidavits and signatures and take the lottery directly to Court for actions that it took in making the payments, that could be potentially barred by the existence of fraud, which is proposed by the unconventional events regarding this matter.
The Ashkars could have notified the lottery of the win 6 years ago, but they did not, if indeed they were the legitimate winners, just like the Michigan $337m Power-ball winner did, before going to Lansing to claim his prize.
The Ashkars claim is deply supicious. Lets just say that they really do not now how to handle the win, then they could have at least claimed it 6 yeras ago, banked it and then waited till 2012 to make a decising on the 50/50 spliit now being suggested by the winner
The lottery does not have the last word, or have the power to render the last word on investigation, and rendering an opinion that there is no wrong doing, and then closing the case. That power is enshrined by the law of this land to the Courts. they and they only can determine if the lottery's investigation was shoddy or not.
I recommend that you pay a visit to your local library and check out a few books that will re-educate you on what you should already know, about how your governments and courts work, and then return to the post, with style and advanced contents that continues the class-act that the lottery posters are all about.
To a significant degree, the decisions of Syracuse to pay this money to the Ashkars is a broad-daylight betrayal of lottery players across America, and utter disrespect of their intelligence.
Actions speaks louder than words and the comments of the other Posters on this post says it all.
Oh come on, they stole this ticket from a customer, that is clear as day. They waited this long because they are scared of prosecution, but they had no choice but to come forward as the deadline was approaching. This is the most obvious criminal act I have ever seen in my life. Who on God's earth would wait that long to cash a ticket of that amount? No one.
You know, the believability of these two brothers is really dead on arrival.
Their parents ran a run-dawn store in a ghetto, referred to politely, in the news report as a though neighborhood, and there was $5 million dollars to buy out their emancipation and salvation from the ghetto and still the brothers did nothing, and when they finally decided to do something, the priority was on splitting the money between the two brothers for supposedly, what the older one did for the younger one in life, a comments for the birds, naive. arrested, restricted and on-hold intelligences.
If I lived in New York, I will begin immediately to develop an action plan that aims to challenge the Lottery to responsibility, and compel the Ashkars to confess, through administrative and legal routes.
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.Maybe,just maybe these brothers are telling the truth and ARE entitled to the money.Nowhere in this story did it say that the brothers were rocket scientists.
The saying is traditional and an accepted culture on earth.
Try and read the article, then read the comments and even long-time traditional enemies on this posts find themselves on common ground that the NY Lottery have failed players in the handling and proceesing of this 6 year old lottery prize by 2 sons of a store owner who sold the winning ticket.
If the brothers had the truth, they would have had no reasons to have proudly claimed this money 6 years ago, bank it or whatever and then wait till 2012 when they think, that they now know what to do with it to speak up.
Their parents squalored in a run-down store in a dangerous ghetto for 6 years while $5m clear money sat around and went un-collected, and could have been used to free them, from the daily risks they faced to guns and robberies.
There is no periodic table equivalent that sets the rocket scientist at the high end of smarts and sets the brothers at the bottom end
The brothers have in effect concocted a tale and thrown it at people. A tale is a lie, and a lie is a statement issued by the liar that affirms that the listener lacks the intelligence to know any better.
The statute of limitation for theft in NY is 5 years, but that's more or less irrelevant. If the ticket is stolen they're both guilty of possession of stolen property, which in this case is a felony that could get them up to 25 years, the same as for the original theft. Then there's the fraud they just committed by claiming the prize as their own. Assuming the parents (or anyone else) know they didn't really buy the ticket they'd have the honor of being co-conspirators for the related conspiracy charges.
Of course the problem is in proving the ticket was stolen. I'd guess that NY considered that and went through a somewhat more thorough investigation than usual, but when somebody presents a legitimate ticket there's just so much they can do.
So how much interest did they miss out on by waiting? Well at least you can get houses for way cheaper now than you could have gotten them in 2006.
Sour Grapes.
What makes me cast doubts in their story was the fact that the country just went through, or is going through one of the worst recession, depending on who you ask, and these two brothers just hanged on to the winning ticket? I don't trust their story
Believe what you want,but the N.Y. Lottery apparently believed them.After the brothers turned the ticket over to lottery for verification and the lottery performed all of their tests on the ticket it apparently passed the tests,the brothers were awarded the prize.'Nuff said!
"If I lived in New York, I will begin immediately to develop an action plan that aims to challenge the Lottery to responsibility, and compel the Ashkars to confess, through administrative and legal routes."
Ok, talk is super cheap. Especially behind a keyboard. So, you are saying that you are so indignant about this, that you would spend money and time, hire attorneys, and force the New York Lottery to make these guys confess to something that you really don't know, and you really don't know, because you only know what you and everyone else has read in an article. Sure.
The New York Lottery spent several months investigating this ticket, and these people. Get over it. You are just jealous because you want to win.
" Ticket no good, i throw away for you! "
Thats the great thing about America...you are still entitled to your opinion,for now.
This is something smelly. This should teach you do not asked the store clerk to check your ticket. Let me tell you how this more likely went down. Someone bought the ticket. Purchaser walked out not knowing s/he had just been screwed out of $5 million. Store owner pockets winning ticket and saves it for later to come forward. This happen all the time. They knew the dead line, and long after all video evidence was destroyed the store owner/clerk come forward with the winning ticket. They should not have paid the ticket because there was a chance of wrong doing.
Welcome to LP tib52,
Im sure the store clerk feels that anyone who is too stupid to realize they won $5 million dollars doest deserve the winnings and therefore did a good deed by keeping the ticket......
LOL. Very well said magic 007.
Lmao, this is why I always take my losers home with me, I had clerks trying to keep my tickets before.
Good observation and Well Said.
I did not give you the Plan, and what I wrote, in no way, shape or manner whatsoever, supports everything that you wrote.
I shall therefore allow the uncontested restriction and continuity of your state, just as it is.
Your language is racist and constructive criticism of another human being, that is based on their national origin, and English as a second language to them.
It is against the law here in the USA, no matter how tempted you are, to express what you have written.
Both you, Ronnie316 and magic 007 have shared in a racist act, to demean another human being on the basis of their national origin, and English as a second language to them.
Your espoused private values is against the true spirit of the universality of this forum, and NOT against bigotry.
Ching chong chooba cheeba!
I know I have not been on this site long but I have never seen you so annoyed with
a member like this before! I was laughing when I saw your post LOL!!
Poor Todd!! lol
I am telling you right now These brothers waited 6 years because they stole the ticket from someone that came into the store and asked them to check to see if it was a winner. when they realized it was a winner they decided to hold the ticket instead of running to cash it in this way whomever really did own the ticket would forget years later that it was there ticket. Also there would be no video because it was 6 years later. People moved away and no one is going to remember what they did 6 years back. I am sorry to say this but these people are known throughout the country for stealing valid tickets from their customers and going and cashing them in. Ironically NY LOTTO is the only lottery agent in the USA that did not contribute to the date line special on store owners/clerks that steal peopls's tickets and than go and cash them in themselves. DO NOT THINK for one second that they waited 6 years because they wanted to make sure they knew what they were doing with the money. That is total bull and the NY lottery knows it but there is nothing they can do because there is no way to prove this either way. so they get the money and the poor person who's ticket it really belonged to gets screwed because of this. Middle Eastern people have no qualms about taking what does not belong to them and keeping it for themselves. They have no morals and they have no proper upbringing so they feel that they can do whatever it si they want according to their own God. I only wish that who ever did bring the ticket into the store that day 6 years ago remembers and comes forward. This needs to be challenged. I only hope that they read about this store and come forward and try to claim what is rightfully theirs.
You will allow?
Yeah, you will.
Ya'll need to stop telling people what and how to post bubba.
If you don't like what someone says, don't read it.
Or sue. LOL.
I am quite surprised about the reason why these two men here made a delay in claiming their prize winnings. It's really unusual for a lottery winner to claim the jackpot prize at a later time. Because as far as I know it, lottery winners are so eager and excited to claim their winnings. But with this news, I was a little bit surprize.
Wow a bigot, racist, and conspiracy theorist all rolled into one.
You've got way too much time on your hands.
WOW! that kinda makes since,, heres what i have always done.
please read
Wouldn't it suck if you won millions of dollars in a lottery jackpot, lose the ticket, and then have the prize money claimed by somebody else that found your ticket? Yes, of course it would. That's why you should always sign your lottery ticket as soon as you purchase it from the retailer.
There are ways for lottery corporations to verify if you are the rightful owner of a ticket. The main one is via the signature on the ticket. There are others ways as well, including a claimant being able to tell the corporation where and when the ticket was purchased. But that is never as full-proof as the actual signature.
Winning a lotto jackpot is against all odds and, if you are lucky enough to have all of your numbers come up, you deserve the money. A lottery win is usually a once-in-a-lifetime event, so if you lose your ticket, you'll most likely never get another win. So, be careful and sign your ticket.
Further, if you check the numbers and find out that, in fact, you are holding a winning lottery ticket, there are other steps that you should take. In addition to signing the ticket, you should also make several photo copies and keep them in separate safe places. That way, if you lose the original, you could still prove that you held the winning ticket. And, don't forget to keep the original in a very safe place.
Winning the lottery would be a dream come true for most people, but there are steps to be taken to make sure that you actually get the money that you win. Signing your lottery tickets at point-of-purchase is the most important of all the steps.
They PATELLED it!!!!!
That post looks like it was a lot of work.........
Really.?<?>?
Signing every ticket before you even scratch it would be such a good idea. Too bad no one ever will
Occasionally I sign, and fill out my name, address, and phone number on back of PB, MM tickets as a good omen.
Now thats a bang up good idea......
It'll save me the time and aggravation of filling out that information, for when I actually win the jackpot.
If we were racist, we would be perfectly within our rights as free citizens in a free country.
So true.... A you can rest assured that no one else will be cashing in your JP winner.
Well said. We are free to do anything we please. Even win a jackpot, if we so choose.
Its our inalienable right.......
Right on brother!
We shall rise from the ashes of low Positive Energy Flow and CHOOSE to win multiple jackpots.
Like the resurrecting Phoenix, (not Phoenix AZ), it is all ours for the taking.
Conceive it, believe it, take it.
Agreed, the Phoenix (perhaps a NH Phoenix ) shall rise........
Dangit!! Its Pink Slime!!!
They had to wait 6 years so their names could be legally changed from Patel to Ashwar.
Its very unfair for all those New Yorkers continuing to play the game chasing the big prize when this dork and his dork brother probably scammed the entire state of New York.
This was probably said before but I kept wondering why this thread was not dying, and I had to check it out.
I think the dim wit who handed over the ticket is to blame........
buy a stamper!
i dont usually put my name on my tickets. but it is a good idea to make at least some mark of some kind to indicate its yours, incase the clerk tries to pull a fast one, and say the ticket is no good and then throw it in the garbage right away.
Maybe so. But some of those clerks can be pretty rude and intimidating. And quick and sneaky.
Now figure there is two of them in the same store?? Thats called TAG TEAM wrestling. The old customer comes in with his or her walker and The Iron Sheik puts the old miser in the Camel Clutch, meanwhile the other brother the "Ayatollah" is doing the switch and those elderly people are just plain , the never had a chance! The were "Marked" from the getgo.
And I mean like off the top ropes piledriver dead!
They must have devised some nifty ways to confuse, and trick customers. Especially elderly people.
Lets say the clerk took the ticket pretended to scan and then just threw it in the trash.
Or say they take the ticket, do a fast switch, scan a loser and then throw away the loser.
Perhaps the customer say hey! I want my ticket back! Perhaps not. Or having the switch already been done they give the loser back to the customer instead of the winner.
Not for nothing ronnie, i dont buy scratch offs, because
1) they are a lot of work
2) they are messy as f*ck
3) often after I am done scratching i cant even tell if its a winner or not!
Nancy drew. Chapter Two. The Iron Sheik and the Ayatollah.
Oh crap.....I have been buying that ticket trying to win big for over 6 years thinking that winner was still out there somewhere!
I hope they enjoyed the past six years because karma is coming to kick them in the butt.
I definately think they are up to no good. The fact that they still kept that little grocery store open for business in a
"tough area" is only so the Lottery officials could do the investigation and find nothing.
Understand your pain mama, there is a big winner outstanding in AZ and now I'm reluctant to play......
All valid points LottoBoner and I cant wait to read the book........
I cant always tell if mine are winners either...... even after double checking.......
Pink swine slime.....
Oh, now there is an idea I really like.......
It may not serve as an official signature, but it would sure prove who had possession first. Excellent Idea.
Perhaps they have a black market where they sell off all the smaller winning tickets...
Just choose wisely when filling out that play slip tonight my friend......
Actually just out of a "gut" instinct, I picked up one last QP from a machine today.
Hot Lotto, which is now up to $3.9 million. If that comes through this evening, this may well be one of my last official posts.
Thank you for the sound advice Ronnie316. May your financial independence be just a few draws away.
Well feel free to post officially AND unofficially, we definitely need to change things up from time to time.
Unofficial would be the way to go.
I would be in fear for my life, with the high number of Patel's on this site.
Their type is lurking in the shadows all around my friend, and don't think for a moment that they are not...
You have just confirmed my worst fears.
Even as I'm typing this response, I can't help but feel that one of them is right behind me now, breathing down my back.
Because of my great phobia of Patel's however, I'm afraid to turn around and confront the Patel.
Stay strong my friend........
Fortunately I visit the gym regularly, should a physical altercation ensue.
I don't believe they excel in martial arts, but I should probably bone up on a few classic Bruce Lee moves, just in case.
I'm seeing it as if it were a photo.... You will be fast as lightning, and that's a little bit frightening.....
Except I didnt know they used chairs in kung fu...... Or is it a wash board.....
The Patel is already unconscious, the wash board thrashing, is to generate a refreshing breeze to gently revive him.
Once revived, he will be escorted to the nearest Patel export station, where he will be shipped back to his motherland. (COD).
Excellent idea.... if we could turn all deportees into exports we would make enough to pay off the debt
Without a question.
With a Republican in charge, this could soon be a reality. (17 days to go).
Deporting the illegal immigrant population AND paying the debt.... That would be like winning the lottery!
Sadly, there would be those who would not be pleased with this good news.
There is another party that would like to continue this multi-trillion dollar debt, and to import all citizens from around the world to live here.
I'm not totally against nearly 7 billion people living here in the US, just concerned about the long lottery lines.
May you awake to untold riches!
From a NY website---Postscript: If you're wondering why Andy's scratch-off ticket
didn't expire, it's because there are different rules for scratch-off
tickets. Scratch-off series could have multi-year runs. In New York,
scratch-off tickets expire one year after the series is expired. Andy
cashed his ticket in 11 days prior to it expiring.
RN:
$OMEthing is $trange when U $EE >>>>>>>>>>>>
50>60>70>80>>>year OLE immigrants (no english)!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!>>>>popping out WIG cards @ UR local
COMMERICAL RETAIL STORE'$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!
??????????????>>>LET them retire N their own LAND!
PSYKO has NO >>>PROBLEM's with Legal immigrants!
GOD LUV'$$>>>LEGAL>>>LOTTERIE'$$$$$
Well I'm gonna join you all and leave my thoughts, now I'm assuming we all in this forum are in agreement that there is some conspiracy with this story that these two brothers are telling. Who the hell waits 6 years to turn in a scratch off worth $5,000,000. Just the thought of holding a ticket worth that much would have you itching to turn it in because of the fear of losing it or it getting stolen. It's not like they could have kept it from their parents because there founding out about it now. Now there's only 2 ways this could have played out, 1. The original owner brought the ticket to the store and they told them it either wasn't a winner or it was worth $20 and they reimbursed them their twenty dollars. 2. The original owner didn't know it was a winner and threw it away in the store and they took it and picked it up out the garbage. That'll probably be their story if anyone gets suspicious of them. That ticket belonged to someone else and they know it, your parents own a store so ya'll have money evidently. The original owner probably needed that money and they denied them that by taking their ticket, that's called GREED which is sin. They knew what they were doing by waiting this long, all the evidence has disappeared so this is gonna be a walk in the park for them now.
"I'm assuming we all in this forum are in agreement that there is some conspiracy with this story that these two brothers are telling"
No we are not in agreement. Do not assume anything.
scenario
UPDATE ----- They STOLE the ticket !!!! idiots!!!!
Pack your bags Ashkars your going to jail.Maybe you'll get the full 25 years ,because your giving are city a bad name.Now you'll have plenty of time to think how you could of spent stolen winnings.,..........................And the real winner is finally gonna get paid. yeah
The true winner (49 year old maintenance worker) was duped into thinking he had won just $5k, the brothers offered him $4k to avoid taxes.
The true winner may be eligible for six years of past lottery installments right away. ($250k per year for twenty years was the annuity).
This is a huge score for justice, thank God the lottery officials never gave up their hunt for the real winner!
Wow!! unbelievable?? this story made no sense from day one and I am just glad the true winner was made whole.
BUSTED!!!!!!
I'm about to watch Good Morning America to see how they found the
right person, sooo glad they were arrested!! whoohoo!!!
Congrats to the REAL WINNER!!!!!
You were correct then. proven by today's 11/14/12 story
You mean the Lottery who covered up the story by saying "No wrong doing was done" and paid out the money then had to call a "kings x" because people on the street were talking too much about the truth......
You mean that Lottery.......
Yeah, that's the one!
You nailed it again Ace Ventura.
Thanks,
Its amazing how they came out smelling like a rose, and being the heroes who saved the day......
When your able to work both sides of the fence, you can pretty much do anything you want in life.
Isn't America grand.
"America" is not the problem, its the state taking advantage of America that is the problem.
They already got the money.... Are they still in the country????
Are you still laughing after today's 11/14/12 article?
Are you still well impressed by your friend's rcbbuckeye comments that ridicled my position and so impressed you on October 18, 2012?
Is it still spilled milk to be gotten over, Mcgunnin56?
Sour Garpes still Mcginnin56?
Today is Wed 11/14/2012
This is one of the many things you said on Oct, 18. Factorem.
You call yourself "factorem" but dont seem to know any facts.......
RACISM IS NOT AGAINST THE LAW IN THE USA...............
yeah , what pete said.
Did the Lottery still find no wrong doing?
Was the case closed as you had said?
Sounds like your having more sour grapes with people that disagreed with you.
Are you so accustomed to being disagreed with, that you become this over sensitive.
These forums are designed to encourage debate, disagreements and a lively exchange of ideas.
Try and have a good time, roll with the punches and don't be so concerned with other peoples opinions.
Sour Garpes. I've never tasted a Garpe before, but I'm always willing to try something new.
And yes today is still Wednesday 11/14/2012, how perceptive of you.
Actually now it's Thursday 11/15/2012.
Are "garpes" fried grapes?
They just might be Artist! I just googled "garpes" and came up empty handed?
Wow who si the bigoted racist now. I told you before this happened they were scammed and I WAS RIGHT AGAIN. tHIS WAS SCAM THAT MIDDLE EASTERN STORE OWNERS HAVE BEEN DOING FOR A FEW YEARS NOW AND i WAS RIGHT.
They were arrested fro fraud just like i said they did it,. so get your facts right before you accuse me of anything.
For al the people who called me a racist and a bigot yet you do not KNOW anything because just like i said from the start these brothers are part of a groqwing trend amongst the middle eastern store owners to scam us out of our lottery winners and the 2 brothers were ARRESTED just like i said they would be because they are scammers. THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Your welcome.
take NOTES:
Signature stamps can be used for checks, legal documents, letters and more.
They are professional, efficient, and easy!
win or loose always get your tickets back, don't let them keep them for any reason.
Listed under common sense Laws: