He didn't luck out with this one
By Kate Northrop
A Florida truck driver was arrested this week after getting caught racking up more than $31,000 on his company credit card to buy lottery tickets.
Law enforcement put a stop to one Florida man's outrageous lottery spending habits after his company discovered he had used their credit card to spend over $31,000 on scratch-off tickets.
Warren Alexander Johnson, 47, of Clearwater, was arrested on Monday and charged with conducting a scheme to defraud between $20,000 and $50,000, records from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office show.
Officials said Johnson works for All Phase Paving, but it's fair to say he might have had his employment terminated.
The owner of the company discovered that one of the company's credit cards had tens of thousands of dollars' worth of fraudulent charges on it in September 2023, an affidavit obtained by Fox 13 Tampa stated. There were only three possible suspects, including Johnson, who had credit cards connected to the All Phase Paving bank account, the owner told police.
Since each card had a different number, all the fraudulent charges could be traced back to one individual possessing one of the cards. The owner also looked at tracking information for the vehicle Johnson drove and concluded that it reflected the locations where the charges took place.
It didn't take long for the owner to figure out that it was Johnson's card that was being used to rack up the damage.
In total, Johnson had charged $31,693 to the company card between several convenience stores, the sheriff's office revealed.
Officials said that, when the owner confronted him about the charges, Johnson fessed up to using the company credit card to buy lottery tickets.
The stores Johnson visited did not have surveillance video footage of him making the purchases, but one manager at one of the locations did attest to Johnson using a credit card to buy scratch-off tickets and noted that he frequently showed up at the store with the company truck.
Johnson is currently in custody at the Pinellas County jail. His bond is set at $20,000.
Just when you think you've heard everything about a stupid criminal this guy may top the list.
Naturally my first thought was HOW MUCH DID HE WIN? LOL.
Yeah baby, your employer will terminate you, demand restitution be part of the plea deal and you ruined your life for stupid greed.
Todd & Kate, please provide us an update, if possible, on the results of his trial and outcome.
Over 30 thousand dollars worth of scratchoffs and still didn't win enough to cover his losses!
Seems to be a warning about buying scratchoffs in that.
I'd imagine that for every big winner there must be at least 5 million losers.
That's why they call playing the lottery a sucker's bet.
Where in the heck did he buy scratchers with a CC. I have never seen a retailer take a CC. Debit card yes, CC no.
honestly wondering the same thing.
I hope he won something big.
A $50,000 win would be enough to pay off the CC and keep some for himself.
Sounds similar to the movie, "Owning Mahoney", starring Philip Morris Hoffman. Guy uses company funds and goes crazy at the casino.
Same here . In my state(Louisiana), it is not legal to buy lottery tickets with a credit card. Is it legal in Florida?
Did he win any big prizes or was he sending in large numbers of tickets for second chance drawings?
I don't feel bad for him since he stole from his employer and used a credit card which could be easily traced.
He'll be locked away for a while.
I doubt he won anything substantial.
Just like the big fish eat the smaller fishes, the big crooks eat the smaller crooks.
Here in KY the lotto machines accept both Debit and CC. Some mini-mart stores here and Indiana will not take CC, only Debit. End of the road takes both as well as some in Indiana.
Am wondering if lottery guys get burned on CC if somewhat disputes the charges whereas Debit comes rigfht out of your account? Just think if some bozo disputed CC charges after using it then won the lotto. The lottery would be all over that like honey to a bear...and perhaps would refuse to pay out due to the fraud claim. Probably never has happened...but always the first tiem.
I was surprised to learn you can purchase lottery tickets with a Debit card at Winn-Dixie in Florida. All other places are cash only, as far as I know.
That part is puzzling but he will not do any jail time for this. He will figure out a way to make restitution. His life isn't ruined either over it. The publicity didn't help but his intention was to always win enough to cover the card but then again how would he explain it to his boss. It would have been a career ender there but that would be about it. So making restitution will get the jail threat dropped.
I agree about the lack of jail time. I have been aware of people using office assigned travel type credit cards for personal purchases. They simply had to pay it back and had a minor reprimand.
I thought scratch offs were only cash buys!?
What a fool that guy was! Wonder how much he won!? LOL
Perhaps if he can't repay all the money the company may go to small claims court?
Now if he hit and injured somebody in this pursuit of lottery tickets, then he'd have jail time since it was in the company truck. Companies don't like unwarranted attention.