This past Christmas, a man in Vacaville, Calif., learned a grim, but useful, holiday lesson: Sometimes, don't spread glad tidings. Keep the good news to yourself.
It was Dec. 20, and the city of about 100,000, located midway between Sacramento and San Francisco, was festooned with white lights and toy reindeer. Hoping to get his hands on a bit of extra cash for the holidays, the Vacaville man went to a Lucky grocery store and paid $30 for a scratch-off lottery ticket that odds said would leave him at a loss.
But the ticket turned out to be a winner, and promised to flood his bank account with $10,000, or so he thought. The lucky lottery contestant couldn't contain his excitement. He returned home to tell his two roommates of his financial success.
He would rue the day he ignored the warning of Shakespeare's King Learto, "Mend your speech a little, Lest you may mar your fortunes."
The next morning, he reported to the Sacramento district office of the California State Lottery to collect his winnings. But the ticket he presented was not a winner.
Suspecting that one of his roommates had purloined the winning ticket while he was sleeping, the man went to the local police department, which recounted the episode Tuesday on Facebook. Chris Polen, a spokesman with the Vacaville Police Department, said authorities weren't naming the man at his request.
It didn't take long for police to unwind the mystery of the good ticket gone bad. The following day, on Dec. 22, the man's 35-year-old roommate, Adul Saosongyang, attempted to cash in on a winning scratch-off ticket at the same lottery office in Sacramento, police said.
But the winning ticket wasn't worth a meager $10,000, the roommate was told. It was worth $10 million.
California lottery officials, yet to be informed that a ticket had been reported stolen, nevertheless began a routine investigation, conducted for all winnings of $600 and up. Collecting a prize of such a sum involves submitting a detailed claim form, either in person at a district office or else in the mail, according to the state lottery.
The lottery investigator who went to the Lucky in Vacaville to view video surveillance footage of the original Dec. 20 purchase learned that the ticket may have been stolen, according to the police department's account. Theft of lottery tickets is relatively common. Numerous scratch-off winners have later been unmasked for stealing the tickets, either from friends or from the grocery stores where they were employed.
The lottery is a magnet for elaborate scams. But the high-stakes contest can also motivate more petty forms of personal betrayal.
The lottery investigator teamed up with a Vacaville detective to get to the bottom of things. Who had purchased the initial scratch-off game? Who was responsible for the ticket presented the following day? And who was destined for the $10 million?
What they say they uncovered was an elaborate attempt by Saosongyang to seize his roommate's reward. He had allegedly purchased a similar scratch card and then swapped it out for the winning ticket while his unsuspecting roommate was sleeping.
On Monday, the investigator summoned Saosongyang to the Sacramento office to collect his winnings. Instead of rejoicing in the windfall, however, he was arrested by Vacaville police, who had obtained a warrant for him on the charge of grand theft. He was booked at the Sacramento County Jail and will be transferred to the Solano County Jail later this week, authorities said. In California, grand theft can be classified either as a misdemeanor or a felony, which determines whether a defendant can be sentenced to up to one year in county jail or up to three years in state prison; it wasn't clear which type of charge Saosongyang would face.
Meanwhile, Polen, the police spokesman, said lottery officials were discussing the winnings with the victim. He said he couldn't be certain that the man would receive payment.
"Although, I'm sure everything will work out in the end," he concluded in an email, adding a smiley face.
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Thanks to KY Floyd for the tip.
Collecting a prize of such a sum involves submitting a detailed claim form, either in person at a district office or else in the mail, according to the state lottery.
I'd like to a claim form
.
To: Samsung,
How could you do a thing like this? Steal your roommate's ticket?
Why? Why? Why?
(oh sorry, my fascination with Bruce Lee just got the better of me. . . )
OK, well he can count on some kind of jail term, right now.
Please folks, please remember to put your name on your ticket, as I will start doing from now on.
And please don't ever steal anything.
Mr. Groppo
Lesson for all. Keep your mouth shut till the check is in the bank. And even then...
William Shakespeare's King Lear speaks from the dead and is still true today.
I sign my tickets as soon as possible after purchase. I have stopped talking about the Lottery to anyone except for friends here on LP and some of my family. My name will be publicized after claiming the prize. That is when the celebrations begin.
Great work by the Police and the California Lottery Officials.
I also make a note of the time of purchase and the number of clerks on duty as well as how many customers are in the store. This information will help confirm the video of you at the store.
I am assuming he will eventually get all the money.
nearly a fool & his money lesson jejeje
When will they learn? Crime doesn't pay!
Good work by the lottery and police.
Samsung, close enough!
I was thinking more along the lines of Sony
There have been recent articles about signing your ticket cancelling out any chance to form a trust.
"When you count your money (winnings) do it in the dark!
~Las Vegas saying
Always keep your mouth SHUT and sign with indelible ink from a gel pen, not regular ink which can be removed.
At the office or wherever 'S' works the gossip pool would have been hot. Where is S? Someone pipes in he's in the slammer! The boss not liking his company/corporation misrepresented by his employer's bad deeds assures 'S' he won't be employed there anymore. Karma baby, Karma!
Each State has their own policy concerning trusts.
I think that it was in New Hampshire where the woman sued the lottery after she signed it. She won her case and remains anonymous.
The story must be here on Lottery Post. Please use the Search box.
Bleudog101, Thanks for the tip about gel pens. I never knew that.
Simply put: The Larcenous Roommate lacked the integrity to do what is right!
* So,if l am reading this right, according to the police: the ticket " may have been stolen?"
* No word on whether the " victim" will be paid out or not.
*We not told whether anyone was identified on surveillance purchasing the ticket?
Hmmm.
music*...what is this about a California lottery machine being stolen in Davis inside a Safeway. (Last Friday).
Seen them stock the machines here once in a while and never paid attention as to how the scratch tickets are activated.
More drama for the California Lottery, must be a fail safe mechanism to deactivate all the tickets?
Bleudog101, This is the first time I heard of this case. I know nothing. There must be a fail-safe mechanism to deactivate all the tickets. Criminals are stupid.
Thanks again for the gel pen update.
This is the Season for the fog to blanket the Central Valley here in CA.
I hope that this New Year will be a very lucky one for all LP Members and Staff.
It is understandable that some winners can, in the excitement of a major win, throw caution to the eind.
I only play online, or by subscription. I never buy tickets, or scratch cards, in stores. That way, my tickets can't be dtolst.
This piece is about "running off at the mouth," telling the world about your win, which led to the misery. It is not about playing online or by subscription dannyct.
Comment by Raven62 towards the bottom of page 1
https://www.lotterypost.com/thread/322882/5685403
and link posted by Raven62;
All Trusts are not equal:
https://info.legalzoom.com/blind-trust-work-lottery-winners-20115.html
Suspecting that one of his roommates had purloined the winning ticket while he was sleeping,
That's exactly why lottery officials say to sign the back of you ticket especially when he thought the ticket was worth $10,000.
.
Stack47,
I'm just not sure about that. If I should ever win, I figure to keep the ticket as-is,
until I speak with my Attorney, or Financial Adviser. Anyone who may win, may be facing other documents/contracts that need signing, and possibly have more leverage if the ticket is unsigned.Just keep it in a folder, in your backpack.
Mr. Groppo
He can tell the whole world about his win when playing online and be guaranteed no one can steal his digital scratch off card/lotto playslip.
He thought he won $10,000 making speaking to your attorney or financial adviser basically unnecessary.
A very strange story with more questions asked than answered.
The moral of the story is, don't announce your financial situation, whatever it may be. People would not tell their neighbours it they had several thousand in cash under a mattress. So why tell people of a lottery win?
You're welcome, music*. Also try not to use your FOB to lock your car doors when you leave in case one of them losers is out there that can get the signal from it and get in easily. Guess it's time for a RFID blocking wallet too. hard to keep ahead of the crooks these days.
Enjoy your fog, we're expecting 2-4" of snow tomorrow...hope it is more!
Bleudog101, What does FOB stand for? I know it is an electronic door key. Enjoy the snow!
Good Luck with MM tonight and PB tomorrow night!
According to Google, it originated in 1888, an ornament that dangles.
In my latest Fortune magazine an interesting article where in Sweden many residents having a microchip placed under their skin on one hand. This unlocks doors, does passwords, etc, for you. In Paris the guy was getting into his hotel room with one of those cards that you do not insert into a lock. Guy with him said give me 5' and I'll decode and get in too...and he did. Scary times.
Won $55 on-line playing Keno last night, KY lotto gave me $5 so $60 robbing Peter to pay Paul...came out even.
Got the snow shovel out, didn't see the electric snowblower which is a joke!
True. Keep it to yourself.
The one good thing, no great thing this victim did, was showing up the following day to claim his prize, and finding out in the process that someone had done a switcharoo. Can you imagine him squirrelling the ticket away, for say a month, and then deciding that now was the time to claim?
We have fobs for work with changing numbers. Allows us to log into client documents on our work computers.
Golly Artist, I just finished reading Black List by Bead Thor, about government snooping on steroids.......
them saw your post yesterday and couldn't remember if it was in the book or I'd read it here!
Coin toss, these fobs have been around for years. Fobs are mentioned in that book?
This Is The Article Bleudog Was Referring To
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article224192810.html
Npt fobs particularly but way, way beyond that.......
Thank You LottoBux for this article. Two losers. When will they see the light?
You only have to be ignorant of the safeguards for lottery tickets to think that stealing the machine might potentially get you 100k or more, although just strolling in and taking it was pretty brazen and not a great way to avoid being caught.
OTOH, I'm pretty sure that stealing your roommate's ticket, especially when you think it's only worth 10k requires genuine stupidity. Did he really think he could just cash it in and the cops would never come knocking? Or did he think that he could collect 10K and just disappear and start a new life? He wasn't very likely to get away with it either way, but if they had realized it was a $10 million winner it would make a lot more sense.
Yes gel pens are what you need to use to sign tickets and checks also. The reason why is standard ink pens only place a line of plastic on top of the surface of the document you are signing which is easily removed using acetone (nail polish remover) without damaging the document including checks with watermarks. gel pens are true liquid that gets embedded into the documents and can not be removed. I always use gel pens to prevent thieft. i learned of the practice known as check washing were someone would steal peoples out going mail to find signed checks and save the signature part and rewrite the checks to get paid themselves instead of the bills the party intended to pay using this process i have described. ALWAYS USE GEL PENS TO PROTECT YOUR DOCUMENTS!