Florida officials have arrested a fourth person locally in its ongoing crackdown on store owners and employees who cheat customers out of lottery winnings.
Kamlawatie Persaud, 60, a clerk at Dave's Mini Mart at 10859 SE Maricamp Road, Ocala, was arrested Wednesday.
According to an investigator at the Florida Lottery Division of Security, the official went to the convenience store posing as a customer with a winning ticket valued at $599 and gave it to the clerk to scan. Persaud checked the ticket at the terminal, which indicated the ticket was valid. Persaud told the holder of the ticket that it was not good.
The official left the store and state agents soon arrived and asked Persaud for the winning ticket. The ticket was recovered and Persaud was arrested and taken to the Marion County Jail. She was released that evening in lieu of $2,000 bond.
Persaud could not be reached Thursday for comment.
Also arrested this week were:
- Ahmed Keshwari, 52, a clerk at Maruti Food Mart at 4201 NE Jacksonville Road. He was taken into custody on Monday and charged with grand theft. The winning ticket was found in his one of his pockets, officials said.
- Pina Patel, 43, and store owner, Vishnubhai Patel, 46, at the BP Jiffy Food Mart at 3350 SE 52nd St., Ocala. Both were charged with grand theft and solicitation and conspiracy.
All three have been released from the jail in lieu of bond.
A lottery official would not say how long the investigation would continue.
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OMG i knew it Mr Patel is arrested too WOW
All states with lottery should be doing this.
Here in Illinois, all our ticket sellers have their own scanning machines near the register for customers. I scan EVERY scratcher or jackpot ticket before I had it to the clerk. I ended up finding some winning scratcher I thought were losers and others with a bigger prize then I thought.
The scanners were put there for exactly the same reason as this article.
Yes, Ohio has them too. and I use them too, and am surprised by how many people I see still hand their ticket to clerk to check. when I mention the self scanner, I've been told, they don't trust the scanners.
Georgia has self-scanners. Georgia Lottery also has a phone app with scanner to check tickets available for download at https://www.galottery.com/en-us/home.html.
Another Patel arrested? Lot of minorities involved in those frauds for some reason.
It's a family tradition. It's very much like being a pirate. Jack Sparrow became one because Teague his Father was.
* Your winning ticket is a losing one,but why don't you hand it to me, l can dispose of it in this garbage container right here. No worries.
I'm guessing these tickets had to be scratch-offs because when a lottery ticket is found a winner, a little "Tada" jingle can be heard from the machine indicating a winner. I know his because I used to live in Floriduh.
What a mug shot!
ICE might be looking @ her, seems like they are on a rampage lately.
I thought for a quick second no Patel's...but was wrong.
Always scan my own tickets, IMO Indiana has the worst self scanners ever. Just bought my winning PB and or MM tickets there since we've had two back to back winning tickets in Kentucky.
Have a great weekend fellow LP members!
South Carolina need to!!! I was talking to a man a few months ago at the gas station. He was telling me he just cashed a ticket for $400. He told me he saw the same number more than 1X and he had a multiplier. This person go to the same store everyday because he don't know how to bubble in the tickets. I personally know this person so I know his situation and the owner of the store know what he can and can't do. My point is this man I believe actually hit for $1000 not $400. He told me the owner know him so well he just looked at his ticket and hand him $400 he didn't even check it on the machine.
I believe in free speech but dayum! That was one of the most racist comments I have ever seen on Lp.
Thank Goodness that we all know that Todd does not condone such nonsene so I will stay as a member, but shame on you! There is no way for you to know if Patel is a minority. Even if he is, so what? There are more non-minorities doing crimes everyday but are not blessed to find a jail cell as a home because of "white privilege".
I am offended and I'm sure many others are also..... White, Black, and others.
When I used to buy paper tickets instead of online I would check them myself with the numbers online and if I handed over a ticket I would always ask for it back.
Too many shady people. Once when I bought a ticket I saw a woman hand a clerk a ticket, he said no winner, tossed it untorn, the woman left and the clerk picket it out ouf the trash and scanned it again. Not with me! I want my money!
AGREED!
GM- Perhaps there are Patels doing the same thing in Norway, where they possibly are a minority.
Say what you will: That's one impressive mug shot. It's the look of shock co mingled with this must be a "weird dream, l know l will snap out of it any minute now."
I don't know about Florida, but Ohio machines can be adjusted, some are very loud,some you can hardly here,probably sound could be turned off all together.
There's many people that probably do this. Just double check your tickets and go to a place like a large supermarket chain to cash in. Obviously he was a suspect.
Most of the times, the scanner simply says winner with no amount...in my area. So I look it up before hand.
Texas has a app that you can download for your phone .You can scan the ticket with your app to find out what you won, I would still double check on the lottery websight. You can check it out at the bottom of the Texas lottery websight
The reason is simple and obvious, but still too difficult for the average bigot to figure out.
GM's profile shows Connecticut.
Well Stack if that be so, then perhaps the Patels in Conn are in the minority. I don't go sniffing around to figure out where members are truly from. If l am not mistaken one of the rules for being a member here is to be truthful about where you reside.Last time checked, Conn does not border Norway.
.
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD FOR PEOPLE TO BEWARE, and check their stuff.
NOT JUST FOR "US" HERE IN LP.
I am appalled by the news. This should not happen anywhere. I hate to read about this stuff. It seems to happen mostly in Fla., Illinois, Pa. Not sure, otherwise.
Why is it even allowed to happen?
I'm grateful, I've yet to be "hit" like that.
When/If/Until I hit something significant, I'm just going to use my usual store, with the Asian clerks, whom I trust implicitly.
OH, there was one clerk in my area, who pulled some stuff like that, until I caught him. I confronted him about it, and he's like "oh oh, my fault. . . ", but he had taken me several times before that. At that time, I wasn't buying a fixed amount, as I have been doing for the past couple years.
I happened to visit that clerk/owner, recently, for gas. He'd asked where I'd been. He asked me
"Do you still play lotto?". I said "yeah, every week, and a heck of a lot more than I spent here."
I've posted Craigslist notices in my city, for people to watch and double-check their tickets, whenever buying anywhere. Please do likewise, and post such warnings on your local CL.
here in MO when they scan your ticket to check it if you won even $1 it plays music so they can not tell you that you didnt win
Two rules of thumb:
Always retain your non winning tickets. They make for tax write off sometimes! Also good for tabulating how much you spend in a year's time on gaming.
Rule 2: request the print out ...Of "winner"or " this is not a winning ticket". Most machines allow for these print outs. If a clerk tells you that it's not an option..Contact your lottery headquarters. With the store #,location.
I'm surprised that someone didn't chime in that maybe it's just a case of re training staff in operating procedures.
" Whom l trust implicitly?"
Implicity: Completely, Totally, Unconditionally...Wow Groppo.
I use the Idaho lottery app to scan my tickets and it tells you the amount won. Idaho also has the self scanners in the gas station but they do not tell you the amount won. I like the self scanners in CA that tell you how much you've won. I think every state should offer an app to check tickets :]
Good luck everyone
Unless it's a scratch off, I am amazed how so many people get ripped off like this. You can check your numbers in your local newspaper, there is a phone number on the back of the ticket you can call, or you can just Google "winning lottery numbers."
I would not trust a store clerk after hearing all these stories. No offense meant to all the honest clerks, but you never know what someone elses financial situation is like.
Don't take a chance. Check you own tickets!!!