$5M Texas Lottery ‘Winner’ Arrested for Theft, Fraud

A Hearne, Texas woman who claimed a $5 million lottery scratch-off ticket prize earlier this month has now been arrested on suspicion of theft and fraud, authorities said.

Arthurica Jackson claimed the jackpot anonymously from a $50 “Luxe” scratch-off game on November 5, according to the Texas Lottery website. But Hearne police and state lottery officials said a subsequent investigation revealed that Jackson may have obtained the winnings fraudulently.

The investigation led to her arrest last week on charges including lottery fraud exceeding $10k and theft of property exceeding $300k. Jackson was carted off the Robertson County Jail.

Hearne police have revealed few details about the investigation, but multiple sources who spoke to local CBS affiliate KBTX said Jackson was an employee of the QuickPump store in Hearne. This was the outlet where the ticket was sold, according to the Texas Lottery website.

While it’s still unclear what happened in Jackson’s case, it’s not unheard of for store clerks to swindle their customers out of winning tickets.

That’s especially true if a customer asks the clerk to check a ticket for wins without scratching off the symbols.

If you simply scratch off the front bar code, the store’s computer system can instantly tell if it’s a winner. This creates an opportunity for a dishonest clerk to declare the ticket a loser and pocket it for themselves.

A Robertson County justice of the peace set the bond for Jackson at $150K for each charge, totaling $300K. Prosecutors had recommended bonds of $1.5 million for each charge, totaling $3 million, but this was considered too high.

Jackson has paid the bond and awaits a court hearing.

In a case from Tennessee, officials became suspicious when Meet Patel, a gas station attendant in Rutherford County, turned up at the lottery headquarters in Nashville to claim a $1 million prize.

When Patel couldn t provide officials with some required information, including proper identification and bank information, they became suspicious and checked the store s security video from the day the ticket was sold, where they saw a customer buy two $20 scratch-off tickets and ask Patel to check them.

Both were winners, but Patel returned just one winning ticket with a jackpot of $40 to the customer and threw the million-dollar winner into the trash, according to prosecutors. Later, the video shows Patel fish out the ticket and put it in his pocket, authorities said.