Includes video report
NEW YORK — A retired New York transit worker is a big winner, but it took some detective work to find out just how big.
$14 million, it turns out.
The New York Lottery on Friday revealed the tale of Milledge McCassell, 72, of Laurelton, in hope of delivering a moral to the story.
McCassell on Aug. 26 took unsigned tickets he bought a day earlier to the Dynasty Deli and Grocery in Jamaica, Queens, to check for possible prizes.
He checked them himself on a store scanner, which for one ticket flashed "Big Winner."
"I knew it was a big prize winner," McCassell said. "I just didn't know how much."
McCassell took the ticket to the store clerk, who allegedly scanned the ticket and told McCassell it was no big deal.
McCassell tried to get the clerk to return the ticket, but he was told it had already been tossed or lost.
He left the store empty handed to get help.
"I knew something wasn't right so the next day, I went to another retailer I trusted and together, we called the Lottery to file a complaint."
The trusted retailer, according to the New York Post, was Hussein Mesed, owner of the Ideal Stop, Dairy and Grill in Laurelton.
Officials said the Lottery security investigator in cooperation with New York State Police investigators interviewed store personnel at Dynasty Deli and examined proprietary data taken from the store's Lottery computer soon after receiving McCassell's call.
"The Lottery used the many resources at its disposal," New York Lottery Director Gordon Medenica said. "The combination of old-fashioned detective work and advanced ticket safety features built into our new computer system made it very clear to us early on that someone had a $14 million motive to try to scam Mr. McCassell out of his jackpot prize."
Confronted by the data, McCassell and the investigators, the clerk "miraculously . . . found the missing ticket," said a New York State Lottery official quoted by the Post.
"It was a long, panic-filled day, but I got my ticket back," McCassell said. "Now, I'm anxious to get my money."
Instead of the $14 million, McCassell elected to receive a lump-sum payoff of $8.7 million, giving him $5.5 million after taxes.
"We are very thankful Mr. McCassell's story had a happy ending," Medenica said, delivering the moral to the story. "But, this should serve as a wake up call to all New York Lottery players who may not see the value in signing the back of their tickets. Lottery tickets are bearer instruments, just like paper money. Customers are their own first line of defense against would-be prize scammers. You can safeguard your prize, whether it's $14 or $14 million, by simply signing your ticket."
The Lottery recently rolled out a computer system, including ticket checkers at all retail outlets that allow customers to check their own tickets, even instant scratch-off tickets, for potential winners. The Lottery also installed a new generation of retailer computers, which generate tickets for all Lottery draw games and are also used by retailers to check for winning tickets.
Medenica credited the numerous security features made possible by the new computer system with helping the Lottery track McCassell's case.
The Lottery suspended the license of the Dynasty Deli, removed the equipment used to generate game tickets as well as the store's instant ticket inventory.
The matter was referred to the Queens District Attorney's office for further investigation and to determine if any charges would be filed.
VIDEO: Watch the report
This clerk, for all practical purposes stole 14 million dollars and they are going to determine if any charges will be filed???
They actually got this guy before he jetted off to Katmandu or who knows where and they don't know if there's going to be charges?
This kind of insanity just blows me away!
Whenever I buy tickets I always check them on line before cashing them in, that way I know what the prize amount is. I don't trust any clerks with my tickets.
As well in Canada the retailers when they scan your ticket have to legally now give you a print out of your prize amount.
I wouldn't trust them otherwise..
When I read the paragraph
"Confronted by the data, McCassell and the investigators, the clerk "miraculously . . . found the missing ticket," said a New York State Lottery official quoted by the Post."
I had a thought in my head that this guy would get off without penalization. They already suspended their license to sell so that's good. If he's just an employee he should be fired and possibly charged with attempted grand larceny. If he's the owner I can understand the simple punishment of not letting him sell tickets but if he's going to get of scot-free, that ain't right.
This made me think of how New York had warned their lottery sellers that NBC was "trying to trick them into stealing tickets". It looks like they didn't need tricking, just an opportunity. Glad to see the guy got his money pretty easily though and didn't turn out to be another Willis Willis.
And am I the only one that finds signing every ticket as soon as you get it a bit unneeded (I do understand why they said it though)? I've always wanted to start signing them as good luck but would feel weird bringing in a signed ticket for a $2 winner. More people should check via internet or at least have the cashier print out the winning numbers (for those without internet access), then if you think you've won you can sign the back and let the cashier check them on the machine.
It's amazing how many clerks do shady things like this...He should face major grand larceny charges! I always check my tickets before cashing them in at the store...... I wonder if the "Trusted Clerk" is going to ask for a bit of money for his help? Enjoy your retirement and lotto winnings sir.....
"I knew something wasn't right so the next day, I went to another retailer I trusted and together, we called the Lottery to file a complaint."
Apparently, a retailer he trusted wasn't his first choice where to cashed his ticket. I wonder if he also bought the ticket at a retailer he didn't trust and allowed him to collect the commission for selling the winning ticket. If so the retailer he trusted that helped him got nothing.
Oh my God! the guy was going to steal $14M from another man?? whats wrong with some people?!
Good point, ttech10.
Maybe this jerk could have been caught by that sting that the NY Lottery warned everybody about so they could lay low for awhile.
Makes you wonder how many times these crooks get away with it too.
WOW!! that's all I can say
Not only should you not trust clerks, you shouldn't trust those <snip>ed scanners either. A friend of mine who works at a supermarket told me this week he cashed a winning ticket for $455 for a customer after the scanner said it was not a winner. Crikey!
rdgnr,
I agree, the evidence is fairly conclusive. But you must withhold judgement until the complete case is heard in court. I'm VERY sure I've been scammed once or twice by unscrupulous clerks who saw an opportunity to cash-in on my good fortune, but there's really not much you can do until an investigation is conducted. We can't automatically assume the guilt or innocence of these people, or their intentions, should they be confronted with a criminal charge.
so why didnt the clerk sign the back of the ticket guess NY is happy to get some good press after thaat date line show
problem solved !!!!
so the real way to check is ask the clerk for a print out of the draw numbers that you have a ticket for and use good ole mk1 eyball checker.if a winner take it to lottery head officve yaself and cut out the scammers altogether. but even if the scanner says its a big winner, donyt hand it over ask for a print out for the draw the ticket is in. and certainly never hand it over. shame it comes to this
Let's see now..A 72 year old man buys a lottery ticket scans it on a scanner and it says "big winner" he gives the ticket to a clerk and he says it's not a big winner and throws it in the trash so he could get it later?..So the 72 year old man goes to a clerk he trust????..Why diden't the old man go to the clerk he trusted first?..Also after the scanner said it was a winner take it to the lottery headquarters..Like tiggs has said many many times some people should not be buying lottery tickets if they don't have any common sense..The scanner said "BIG WINNER"..Would that not be a clue you had a BIG WINNER in your hand..
PS...and he diden't sign the ticket..Beam tiggs up Scottie this is to much!!!...
I agree with tiggy on this one
Check your tickets online! Don't be lazy, only after collecting your big winning!
That's why you should A. Check online but since not everyone has online access (I mean you could use the library but thats a bit of hassle. or B. Sign your tickets no MATTER WHAT.
I think a few lottery clerks spittin out teeth once in a while would do wonders.
Absolutely always sign your lottery ticket when you buy it, don't wait till you take it to any store, as well check your numbers beforehand- whether it is on the computer, the newspaper, or getting a print out of the draw numbers from a store- never trust any clerk by just handing over a ticket!!
Good luck everybody with future winnings- I hope we all win large lottery winfalls!
All the more reason to bust the guy some cash from your winnings, I'd do it.
LOL, you got that right!
I do stuff like this from time to time. It is not that the trusted retailer is not my first choice, it is the fact they are closed when I get decide to go uptown sometimes to get my tickets for the evening. The store where I like to go closes at 6pm. The others are convenience stores that stay open to all hours of the night. It is possible that is what may have happen here, since he waited until the next day to talk to the trusted retailer he knew.
Stop it will yah...SIGN THE TICKET!!!!...
No don't sign the ticket! Only sign the ticket if you're going to claim the jackpot in your name and not use a trust to claim the jackpot!
Because the lottery will use what's on the back of the ticket as to who or what is making the claim to the jackpot!
Tigg, I only meant the reason he didn't go to the trusted retailer first. There is one huge difference between Milledge McCassell and myself.
Out of the thousands of tickets I have purchased over my lifetime of lottery playing there may have been 3 tickets I have given to a store clerk
to check where I did not know the fate of the ticket already. Three...
You SHOULD always know if your ticket is a winner before you enter the store to check it..It's not that hard...There are crooks everywhere...As soon as the man checked the ticket on the scanner it said BIG WINNER..Can't he read??..
Its funny how all these lottery winners dont have internet access... In fact in NY, they all have computers now that will show on screen all the winning numbers for ALL their gms (NY lotto, PB, MM, take 5, u name it) so theoratically he could just watch the screen until his games results were shown. Plus those scanners are a disgrace. I cant believe any real lotto player would trust a scanner to tell them if they won or not.
Yes, it sounds like he could and that is the reason he knew something was wrong, He ask for the ticket back and the owner/clerk wouldn't give it back to him. The man is 72 years old and if the clerk is the owner, the player may have had no other recourse, at the time. Even the self scanners here in MO say "See Clerk" when you have a prize bigger than the store is legally able to pay (anything above $600). The clerk is suppose to tell you the amount you have won on the ticket in question and give you the ticket back. So that could have easily happen here as well. The only part of the story that I don't get is why he didn't go directly to a police station or call the cops immediately when the clerk refused to return the ticket. Instead of waiting until the next day. That, I don't get.
He paid for that ticket and it was his win or lose..Go around the counter and get it!!..Maybe he needs a nurse..Stop making the clerk out to be a nice guy he's a crook...
I never ask clerks if I have a winning ticket I always go to NYLOTTERY.ORG or use the customer self check scanner inside of the stores to see if I have the winning ticket myself.
So.........If you sign your ticket when you buy it, can you still claim it in a blind trust?
Does anyone know how it that works..........
I have no idea what you are talking about, but we will leave it at that.
Have a nice day!
After getting more information from another source I found out he brought his ticket from the trusted retailer and went to him and told him the story and that retailer called the police and the lottery commission. The lottery records showed the ticket was bought at the trusted retailer business and scanned at the deli with crooked clerk so it was evident that the clerk had taken the ticket and was planning to cash it in after things settled down. I guess stealing that $14M just looked too easy to past up.
Don't feel bad. Hardly anybody ever knows what the hell tiggs is talking about, including him.
He's from Kentucky.
I am not sure how the blind trust idea would work, but I do know that when you buy a lottery ticket here it says right on the ticket to Simply sign it!
That way nobody can say it is their ticket, when your name is written on it, when you purchase it!
Yes tiggs will sign his ticket simply so as ridge runner can't steal it..He's from Tn you know and that's how they make a living way down there...steal...
and i saw that only 1 name is allowed on the back, whatif 2 people sign the back?
When you win, that's the last thing on your mind....signing the <snip> ticket.
EVERYONE here should now know.....
#1 - don't hand a ticket you haven't checked over to any clerk.
#2 - if you win (even if you don't think you read the numbers right and need someone to check it for you
), sign your stinkin' ticket.
#3 - don't trust anyone.
I'm only going by what the back of the ticket says about the ticket being a bearer instrument! And since that's the case, if you sign it with your personal name then it has to be claimed as such (an individual/personal claim) Now if the name of the trust is on the back of the ticket and the proper paperwork for the trust formation accompanies the ticket it will be claimed in the name of the trust!
I'm not a professional or anything but that seems to be the logical conclusion on something such as a lottery ticket being a bearer instrument. And if the lottery is going to go by what's written on the back of the ticket or not, or with the paperwork for a trust and/or power of attorney papers that's presented at the time of making the claim!
I would think that since if you sign with a personal name it would need to be claimed by that person whose name is on the ticket.
If a blind trust is to claim the ticket then I would imagine the name of the trust would need to be on there. That is who the check is made out to and as far as I know the check is always made out to whatever is on the back of the ticket.
In the case of a blind trust I would definitely not sign the ticket until you've talked to your attorney or whoever and also called the lottery offices to see how they want it signed.
"This clerk, for all practical purposes stole 14 million dollars and they are going to determine if any charges will be filed???"
There's not much point in filing charges if you haven't got a case. The reason that states that run sting operations wait until the decoy ticket is presented for claim to arrest people is that until the claim is made there's no proof that the ticket was purposely stolen. All we know beyond a reasonable doubt from the information in the article is that McCassell handed the clerk a ticket and the clerk didn't give him proper information about the ticket's value or the claim procedure. If you can't prove why that happened the best you can do is prove that the clerk didn't do his job properly. To convict him of stealing the ticket you need more proof, such as a store video that clearly shows him pocketing the ticket or perhaps "finding" the ticket in a place that offers ample evidence that somebody deliberately saved the ticket.
"As soon as the man checked the ticket on the scanner it said BIG WINNER..Can't he read??"
Have you ever seen how lotteries advertise games and prizes? If somebody doesn't know enough to check their tickets by some other method and know how much they've won why should they think that "big winner" doesn't just mean they won $10 or $20? I would assume that "big winner' means it's more than the store can pay, but I don't know it for a fact and I've certainly never seen a lottery make such information obviously available.
Ky- correct, an attempt or allegation is just that. Thanks for clarifying that for folks. Few get the legal evidence necessary before placing charges.
On a side note I have two stores I frequent for ticket redemption- They have posted customer rules for claims on any ticket:
Rule 1: Did the clerk hand you the confirmation of your ticket win? (if not you get a free ticket play!). Seen a clerk hand a guy a confirmation ticket saying not a winner and he tossed it back and said, nice try! The confirmation ticket is even from a different date! Now reprint my confirmation or call the lottery...That ticket was indeed a winner.
Rule2: Your the customer, its your money. Remind the clerk if they forget.
Rule 3: We pay in cashier check for 80$ and above. Fill out your claims form if you are tax required.
Rule4: Keep playing here because we play fair here!
Hehe, so Attorney's office is still to determine if any charges would be filed.
Here is the morale of this story: do not cheat rich and do not steal from rich like Mr Madoff did. You will get 150 years of jail. Do the same to poor guy and live a happy life.