Clerk tried to steal $14 million lottery ticket

Comment #61

hsg2000A — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:46:56 GMT

Why is it always the muslims who are the culprits for robbing the people's winning tickets, beware of the muslims - it was 9-11 and now robbing other people's money.

Shame on them, being so pious and god fearing people.

Beware of them

Comment #60

rdgrnr — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 17:21:19 GMT

Looks like it's also a good idea to sign all the signature lines if there are more than one.

Maybe a pen with indelible ink wouldn't hurt either.

Personally, an unmistakable look of implied frontier justice usually does the trick with lottery clerks for me.

Unless it's a woman of course, then everything is out the window cuz my mind wanders to other things.

Comment #59

RJOh — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 13:24:15 GMT

Everyone always sign your ticket, remember this story? https://www.lotterypost.com/news/80940

Comment #58

louise black — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 00:01:59 GMT

I don't any more,but will call a friend to have them to put one in if I can't make it to the store in time. Thanks for the advise anyway.

Comment #57

tiggs95 — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 23:48:20 GMT

You call in a number..Are you crazy?..Go buy it in person put ticket or tickets in your purse,like ridge does,and your tickets are safe..Never call in a number..Buy in person..Dig?...No wonder people lose even when they win..

Comment #56

louise black — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 22:00:11 GMT

I will tell a story about a winning that I wasn't given the opportunity to sign first .There was this store near my home. I would call my numbers in every day.On this particular day I won $791.00 on the number 731. I had call my numbers in as usual, but this worker who knew me and the store owner definly knew me.He decide that he was going to take my $500.00 winning ticket.When I collected my tickets the 731 ticket 50/50 was there but not my $500.00 ticket .He said that he didn't have it .I made... [ More ]

Comment #55

atoz — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 16:20:08 GMT

I will second that. If that was my ticket I would of never left the store in the first place without the ticket. I might of been thrown in the pokey but I would of recovered tht ticket.

Comment #54

tiggs95 — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 02:25:19 GMT

Tn justice...

Comment #53

rdgrnr — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 23:49:56 GMT

Thank you Louise. I agree. Give him a fair trial and hang him in the morning.

Comment #52

louise black — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 21:55:37 GMT

I must agree with you rdgrnr on this one.The clerk was being a crook no doubt in my mind,but however there is due process,let him have his day in court.

Comment #51

dpoly1 — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:35:02 GMT

I always print my name where you put your name and sign my tickets when I get home from purchasing them.

I also double check the numbers after the drawings.

Not rocket science

Comment #50

tiggs95 — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 18:39:10 GMT

Never met daddy-phoo till tiggs was 28..Wish tiggs would have never met him then..Next!!..

Comment #49

RJOh — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 18:13:36 GMT

Does that means you wouldn't trust your Dad

Comment #48

tiggs95 — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 17:52:41 GMT

Do not take anyones word unless you came from their womb...

Comment #47

Daveyl — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 03:22:35 GMT

NYSlugger777, a very good policy! I never hand the clerks a ticket unless I've personally verified the winning amount. Our lottery machines in California are able to scan tickets and display the prize amounts (If the prize is below $600.00) without the clerk's help. Before these machines were modified to scan tickets, you had to have them verified by store clerks. On many occasions, I asked the clerk to hand me the ticket back because I thought the prize amount was incorrect. Nine times out of n... [ More ]

Comment #46

Daveyl — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 03:13:49 GMT

The evidence is strong against this clerk, so the case should be a simple matter of presenting the jury or judge with the circumstances. You can't hang someone before they have their day in court. I believe a conviction of this clerk, followed with a stiff jail sentence, will serve as a warning to other clerks to deal with winning lottery players honestly.

Comment #45

rdgrnr — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 03:01:58 GMT

There are a few people here who are actually happy when somebody gets ripped off. It's always the same ones rushing out to defend the crooks or defend the State Lottery. It must be jealousy or something or the If I can't have it nobody can syndrome.

Well he shouldn't get his money cuz he didn't do x, y or z perfectly.

Willis Willis shouldn't get his money cuz he was stupid.

The clerk shouldn't be charged cuz he didn't actually get on the plane for Katmandu yet.

Whatev... [ More ]

Comment #44

barbos — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:46:03 GMT

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.

Comment #43

TheGameGrl — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:10:53 GMT

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

Comment #42

KY Floyd — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 23:18:04 GMT

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 hand... [ More ]

Comment #41

ttech10 — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 19:47:59 GMT

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... [ More ]

Comment #40

BaristaExpress — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 17:45:28 GMT

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... [ More ]

Comment #39

dr65 — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 15:31:18 GMT

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.

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

Comment #38

savagegoose — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 15:26:25 GMT

and i saw that only 1 name is allowed on the back, whatif 2 people sign the back

Comment #37

tiggs95 — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:38:20 GMT

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...

Comment #36

Elizabeth03 — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:35:51 GMT

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

Comment #35

rdgrnr — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 03:58:28 GMT

Don't feel bad. Hardly anybody ever knows what the hell tiggs is talking about, including him.

He's from Kentucky.

Comment #34

RJOh — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 03:11:33 GMT

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 t... [ More ]

Comment #33

Dead_Aim — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 00:15:59 GMT

I have no idea what you are talking about, but we will leave it at that.

Have a nice day

Comment #32

Perfecttiming2 — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 00:14:15 GMT

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..........

Comment #31

NYSlugger 777 — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 23:36:43 GMT

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.

Comment #30

tiggs95 — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 22:29:56 GMT

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...

Comment #29

Dead_Aim — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 21:25:39 GMT

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 y... [ More ]

Comment #28

JONNIE — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 21:18:07 GMT

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.

Comment #27

tiggs95 — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 21:02:55 GMT

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??..

Comment #26

Dead_Aim — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 20:58:45 GMT

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...

Comment #25

BaristaExpress — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 20:42:18 GMT

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

Comment #24

tiggs95 — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 19:23:41 GMT

Stop it will yah...SIGN THE TICKET!!!!...

Comment #23

Dead_Aim — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 17:14:31 GMT

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.

Comment #22

mjwinsmith — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 14:47:21 GMT

LOL, you got that right

Comment #21

mjwinsmith — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 14:40:38 GMT

All the more reason to bust the guy some cash from your winnings, I'd do it.

Comment #20

Elizabeth03 — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 13:03:32 GMT

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

Comment #19

rdgrnr — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 12:53:43 GMT

I think a few lottery clerks spittin out teeth once in a while would do wonders.

Comment #18

C0w Pi3 — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 12:39:07 GMT

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.

Comment #17

diamondpalace — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 12:33:03 GMT

Check your tickets online! Don't be lazy, only after collecting your big winning

Comment #16

B$Rizzle — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 12:27:27 GMT

I agree with tiggy on this one

Comment #15

tiggs95 — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 12:11:01 GMT

PS...and he diden't sign the ticket..Beam tiggs up Scottie this is to much!!!...

Comment #14

tiggs95 — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 12:09:04 GMT

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... [ More ]

Comment #13

savagegoose — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 10:58:35 GMT

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

Comment #12

hearsetrax — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 10:37:57 GMT

close the store,sue the store owner off with the employee thief's hands with a good sized meat cleaver and on public tv

problem solved

Comment #11

savagegoose — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 09:03:17 GMT

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

Comment #10

Daveyl — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 06:05:55 GMT

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.

Comment #9

Nino224 — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 05:40:04 GMT

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!

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

Comment #8

dallascowboyfan — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 04:03:27 GMT

WOW!! that's all I can say

Comment #7

rdgrnr — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 03:36:37 GMT

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.

Comment #6

maringoman — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 03:33:13 GMT

Oh my God! the guy was going to steal $14M from another man?? whats wrong with some people

Comment #5

RJOh — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 03:15:15 GMT

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.

Comment #4

petergrfn — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 02:44:08 GMT

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.....

Comment #3

ttech10 — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 02:16:36 GMT

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 no... [ More ]

Comment #2

Elizabeth03 — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 02:02:04 GMT

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..

Comment #1

rdgrnr — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 01:44:39 GMT

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

Clerk tried to steal $14 million lottery ticket

Lottery Post — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 01:21:44 GMT

Includes video report

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 scan... [ More ]