They waited until shortly before the $5 million winning ticket in a scratch-off lottery game would have been worthless. Then, when two brothers from the Syracuse area went to claim the prize, they made an unusual offer: They told state lottery officials that they would be happy to take home less than the full amount if they could avoid a news conference.
(See NY brothers claim $5M win from '06 lottery ticket, Lottery Post, Oct. 17, 2012.)
The officials made them wait some more, saying a security check had to be completed before the big payday.
But "security check" turned out to be another name for an investigation that ultimately led to the brothers' arrest on Tuesday on larceny and other charges. The authorities said the two brothers had tricked the actual winner, a customer at their parents' convenience store.
The brothers — Andy Ashkar, 34, and Nayel Ashkar, 36 — were charged with attempted grand larceny and conspiracy. The Onondaga County district attorney, William J. Fitzpatrick, said in a statement that Andy Ashkar was also charged with criminal possession of stolen property, the ticket in the "$500 Million Extravaganza" game, sold in October 2006.
Andy Ashkar told the buyer at the time that it was only a $5,000 winner and, after pocketing $1,000 as a "fee," gave the man $4,000, according to the statement from Mr. Fitzpatrick.
Mr. Fitzpatrick said in the statement that when the Ashkars went to the lottery's headquarters in Schenectady in March of this year, they were told they would have to wait for the "security check."
The next milestone mentioned in Mr. Fitzpatrick's statement was an article last month in The Post-Standard of Syracuse about the Ashkars and the winning ticket — a story Mr. Fitzpatrick said "was actually put out by the lottery security division in an effort to have the real winner come forward." Other news outlets including The Associated Press also carried the report, based on a news release from the lottery's communications office.
John Lammers, the enterprise editor of The Post-Standard, said the newspaper assigned two reporters to the story because the editors wondered why the lottery had disclosed so much in a news release. Usually, he said, the lottery waits to announce a winner's identity at a news conference.
"Nobody put a fast one over on us," he said. "We were suspicious of this from the get-go. Something was going on.
"We put it on the front page because of all the red flags, and our readers got it immediately."
The lottery's news release said Andy Ashkar had bought the ticket but had waited to redeem it "out of concern that the winning ticket could negatively influence his life if he did not plan properly before being publicly introduced."
"Most notably," the news release said, "Ashkar said he did not want the winning ticket to influence his engagement and subsequent marriage." The release also said that Andy Ashkar wanted to share the money with his brother "to show his appreciation for all that Nayel had done for him during his life."
Carolyn Hapeman, a spokeswoman for the lottery, said at the time that it was "unusual" for the lottery "to send out a prerelease about an upcoming winner event." The news release said the lottery "requires" players who win $1 million or more to attend a news conference.
"We've been getting a lot of calls about this particular ticket and these individuals," she said on Oct. 17, "and rather than anybody question 'Is it true? Is it true?' we sent out what we know thus far." On Tuesday, she referred questions about the case to Mr. Fitzpatrick's office.
His statement said the false release had served its purpose; the real winner had come forward "and will hopefully be awarded his actual winnings pending the conclusion of the case against the Ashkar brothers."
There was no answer at the Ashkar family's store or at their homes.
As for the real winner, the authorities did not release his name.
Just unbelievable! their entire story was skeptical from the start.
All's well that ends well.
Don't mess with New York!!!!! lol
Just finished watching Good Morning America, the man who won said he
was confused by all of the zero's and always felt he was cheated somehow.
You see how GREEDY they were? Said they would give him $5,000 to avoid taxes
then charged a $1,000 "fee" and gave him $4,000j!!!! $1,000 "fee" for what!!!!
whoo greed is UGLY!!!!
This is the saddest thing about cheating, if you are bad and your intentions are bad, you will end up in jail. These two brothers will just pay what they did...stealing money is still a bad idea.
Yeah he didn't want to ruin his engagement and subsequent marriage to his lovely bride. JAIL would do that to a romance!
I wonder if the Ashkars are any relation to the Patel clan?
Ronnie316 was the first one in LP to say, "I smell a rat" and "sounds fishy to me". Congrats NY Lottery for catching another fraudulent claim and returning the winnings to the rightful lucky lottery player. I think that winner would be due interest since they should be able to determine the date he/she received the bogus $4,000 payout from the brothers.
li hate scratchoffs...for me, they have been nothing but worthless pieces of hard card paper. Got my eye on that $5,000 per Week For Life but I feel better about taking the astronomical odds playing the online games since I don't have to be in the right store at the right time to purchase the right scratch-off game...just let my 6 numbers match and I AM RICH B-YATCH!
If it doesn't makke sense, It's not true.
Ronnie316 was right on the money!
Next time I suspect rats are infesting my home, I will be calling him first.
Good shout out to Ronnie316!!!!
The brothers said they'd be willing to take less money to avoid a news conference!
Seriously? Who does that?
As many members here on L.P. worried about remaining anonymous, would you take LESS MONEY
just so your name would not get out there? I don't think so!!!! I'd ALL my money and forget about
my name in the press!! Deal with it!!
Reading this pissed me off. Poor guy, but at least now he can have some peace of mind. I hope jail goes terribly for them.
Like i said back then " Ticket no good, i throw away for you " and i was castigated by factorem for being a "racist" ok Mr Factorem , where are you now, show your face. I rest my case......
Good point magic 007, we have all had to deal with money grubbing dishonest shopkeepers at some time.
Put them away for a long time sorry SOB.........Glad the real winner will receive his winnings.
Perhaps I should open shop as "Ronnie PI" and your rats will be my first customers mcginnin56,
As a warning to any other Gas Station Clerks who decide to rip off customers.....If I was the true winner of the $5 Million I might "Donate" a few hundred bucks to a couple of inmates canteen accounts anonymously and make sure the brothers get the "Extra" Treatment in Prison! LOL
On the other hand they will probably lose their store and spend many years in prison so they will be far worse off than if they had just thrown the ticket away.
Thanks Nikkicute.
I think your right....
if they had just walked in and picked up the check no one would have been the wiser.....
It was the parents store, so likely no one will lose anything....
I would be willing to bet those boys don't have to do ANY time in jail for their offences....
I remember the original story saying there was no wrong doing and the winnings were paid....
On a positive note...... at least the investigators had some work to do for a few months......
Good point, and what a great service to the community getting rid of all those "losing" tickets... lol.
On the other hand,they may run into a judge who is tough on crime and end up in prison for a whole lot of years.At least thats what I hope happens!
Andy faces 25 and his brother faces 15. I have a feeling the lotto will try to make an example of them if the law allows. Hard to believe he's a manager at a Toyota dealership.
I hope they like getting booty raped .
It doesn't matter if the rightful winner gets the money. The Brothers still committed the crimes! They made a scheme to defraud the lottery winner. They then turned in the ticket to the lottery commission. That makes it Criminal Possesion. Even if this is their first offense they CAN NOT prove that the ticket was worth LESS than $1 Million that makes it First Degree Grand Larceny! That's Mandatory Min. sentencing territory. They will do a few years IF they are lucky and make a plea. Any Lawyer worth his salt's first word to these two should be you absolutely want to AVOID a Jury Trial.....
Time will tell. I'm sure the 3rd segment of this fiasco will be published on LP in short order.