3 men accused of scamming lottery winner out of $3M

Sep 2, 2011, 9:50 am (24 comments)

New York Lottery

Three men are accused of scamming a $3 million New York lottery winner out of his fortune by convincing him he would face deportation if he tried to collect his prize, according to Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe.

Atif Ali, 28, of Spring Valley, Riaz Khan, 45, of Monroe, and Mubeen Ashraf, 23, of Monroe are charged with first-degree grand larceny.

The scam, Zugibe said, started on Feb. 3, at 11:30 p.m., when the victim bought New York State Lottery tickets at a convenience store in Spring Valley. Among those tickets was a big winner, worth $3 million.

Ali, who was a clerk at the store, contacted Ashraf and Khan, the former owner of the convenience store, and Zugibe said they conspired to keep the victim from claiming his prize. Zugibe said they convinced the winner he could be immediately deported by the U.S., and they convinced the winner to give his ticket to Ali.

"This alleged crime is particularly egregious as the defendants are accused of targeting a hard-working immigrant," Zugibe said. "These defendants are con men who preyed upon the innocent victim using fear and threats of deportation. They are now charged with having been motivated by greed in committing this blatant extortion of thousands of dollars in lottery winnings."

Ali is accused of claiming he was the owner of the winning ticket and collecting the first of 20 annuitized prize payments totaling $150,000.

Zugibe said Ali, Ashraf and Khan were able to obtain another $600,000 through an advance from a funding company, with the money deposited directly into a bank account that was opened specifically to hold the stolen money.

The victim, a Spring Valley man who now lives elsewhere in the county, did not get any money.

This week, a temporary restraining order was issued in state Supreme Court in New City, freezing the bank account holding the stolen funds.

The arrests came about from an investigation by the Rockland County Special Investigations Unit, the Spring Valley Police Department and the New York State Lottery.

Ali, Khan and Ashraf are being held in the Rockland County Correctional Facility in New City pending court hearings. Khan and Ashraf are each being held on $250,000 bail, with Ali held without bail.

Zugibe said they each face a maximum of 25 years in state prison, if convicted. Prosecutors said the victim does not face any deportation actions.

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Scarsdale Patch

Comments

Raven62's avatarRaven62

WOW! Somebody Won, but the State Keeps the Money!

sully16's avatarsully16

Quote: Originally posted by Raven62 on Sep 2, 2011

WOW! Somebody Won, but the State Keeps the Money!

wow, is right, thats just wrong.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

A lottery clerk ripping somebody off?

How shocking.

Now some liberal judge will slap them on the wrist and tell them not to do it again and then we'll wait for the next one to get caught stealing from a legitimate winner only to have nothing of consequence done about it. And on and on.

I think it's time to bring back public flogging.

Start with these three scuzzy lookin' dirtbags and the judges who always go easy on this kind of criminal.

Then give them all free skydiving lessons - over Iran.

surimaribo24's avatarsurimaribo24

didnt they learn anything after the patel brothers.

 hope these three terrorist looking ahole  get a lot of <snip>meatsandwich in jail  . and for the other ripoffs clerks and owners better learn something from these . you cant escape from your karma.

This post has been automatically changed by the Lottery Post computer system to remove inappropriate content and/or spam.

pepper1's avatarpepper1

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Sep 2, 2011

A lottery clerk ripping somebody off?

How shocking.

Now some liberal judge will slap them on the wrist and tell them not to do it again and then we'll wait for the next one to get caught stealing from a legitimate winner only to have nothing of consequence done about it. And on and on.

I think it's time to bring back public flogging.

Start with these three scuzzy lookin' dirtbags and the judges who always go easy on this kind of criminal.

Then give them all free skydiving lessons - over Iran.

It would be nice that if people are here illegal and playing the lottery why don't you learn the rules.

Learn and understand how it apply to you if you win. Learn the rules. The state should

return the money to him are what left of the money if not shame on you NY GREEDY.......

TheRightPrice

Yet another lotto theft story. Morale of the story: Hold on to those tickets folks. More importantly sign the back of them .

TnTicketlosers's avatarTnTicketlosers

I LOVE THE SYDIVING COMMENT RIDGENaughty

larry3100's avatarlarry3100

I can't believe this.Another story regarding an illegal immigrant winning the lottery.Get those illegal aliens out of here.The judge should get that $3 million lottery win and send it to the U.S. border patrol to secure our borders. Patriot

CajunWin4's avatarCajunWin4

I'm a firm beliver in we reap what we sow. You put out bad karma or harm and it will come back 3 fold .. The man maybe an illegal .. But what is his reasons for being here sick family member (mother , father , daugher , wife ,son)  or to better his family living for food ,shelter , electricity things we take advantage of every day. Just think if the shoe was on the other foot .We would be down in Mexico looking for work. Remember how close this country is to being in a Double Dipp Depression . No work for 14 million people  . That Dollar in your pocket is not worth a Dollar !!!

            I know some good people from Mexico legal and illegal 90% of them would give you the shirt off their back .

                                                                                                                         Just my 2 cents worth,

                                                                                                                                             CW4

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by CajunWin4 on Sep 2, 2011

I'm a firm beliver in we reap what we sow. You put out bad karma or harm and it will come back 3 fold .. The man maybe an illegal .. But what is his reasons for being here sick family member (mother , father , daugher , wife ,son)  or to better his family living for food ,shelter , electricity things we take advantage of every day. Just think if the shoe was on the other foot .We would be down in Mexico looking for work. Remember how close this country is to being in a Double Dipp Depression . No work for 14 million people  . That Dollar in your pocket is not worth a Dollar !!!

            I know some good people from Mexico legal and illegal 90% of them would give you the shirt off their back .

                                                                                                                         Just my 2 cents worth,

                                                                                                                                             CW4

I hope you don't reap what you sow when you help criminal Mexicans while the good ones are still in Mexico waiting in line like we ask them too.

You don't get good karma by looking the other way when people break the law and steal the jobs those people waiting in line should have gotten.

We have them come through Tennessee to pick tobacco, so I'm familiar with them. They sell drugs to the kids when they're not working in the fields and they throw garbage everywhere they go. Yeah, they're a real pleasure to have around.

CajunWin4's avatarCajunWin4

If they are illegal and commit a crime then swift justice should be served . A trial then exacution by hanging or my favorite the guilletion.  off with their head .  Off course you will have the good and bad . It goes for all races . You could read the paper and q\watch the news  just about 3 weeks ago a father ( white ) decapitated and dismembered his seven year old son in the town I live in .  Why because he wanted to treat his girlfriend a lesson and the poor child was severaly disabled in a wheel chair could not speak for him self .

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by CajunWin4 on Sep 2, 2011

If they are illegal and commit a crime then swift justice should be served . A trial then exacution by hanging or my favorite the guilletion.  off with their head .  Off course you will have the good and bad . It goes for all races . You could read the paper and q\watch the news  just about 3 weeks ago a father ( white ) decapitated and dismembered his seven year old son in the town I live in .  Why because he wanted to treat his girlfriend a lesson and the poor child was severaly disabled in a wheel chair could not speak for him self .

"If they are illegal and commit a crime then swift justice should be served"

 

If they are illegal and commit a crime?

If they are illegal and commit a crime?

If they are illegal and commit a crime?

Do you hear what you're saying?

Next time just say "I am a lib" and we won't have to go through this lunacy.

I'll know exactly what your position is.

HaveABall's avatarHaveABall

Quote: Originally posted by CajunWin4 on Sep 2, 2011

If they are illegal and commit a crime then swift justice should be served . A trial then exacution by hanging or my favorite the guilletion.  off with their head .  Off course you will have the good and bad . It goes for all races . You could read the paper and q\watch the news  just about 3 weeks ago a father ( white ) decapitated and dismembered his seven year old son in the town I live in .  Why because he wanted to treat his girlfriend a lesson and the poor child was severaly disabled in a wheel chair could not speak for him self .

What was the "lesson" to be learned by the adult? What?

HaveABall's avatarHaveABall

Quote: Originally posted by larry3100 on Sep 2, 2011

I can't believe this.Another story regarding an illegal immigrant winning the lottery.Get those illegal aliens out of here.The judge should get that $3 million lottery win and send it to the U.S. border patrol to secure our borders. Patriot

You mean $750K.

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