NEW YORK—A Long Island convenience store owner and his son were charged with grand larceny Saturday, after they didn’t release $1 million in lottery winnings to a customer who didn’t speak English.
Officer Roach with the Nassau County Police Department, Public Information Office, confirmed that on Thursday a 34-year-old man of Hispanic background played the Unwrap The Cash lottery at the Peninsula Deli & Grocery in Hempstead.
After the customer scratched off the card, he handed it to the cashier, Karim Jaghab, 26, knowing he had won a prize.
Instead, Jaghab paid the customer $1,000 cash and kept the ticket. The next day, the suspicious customer returned to the store. Store owner, Nabil Jaghab, 57, tried to bribe the customer and said he would pay him $10,000 not go to the police.
The customer went to the police, regardless, Friday night. The Nassau Police Department started an investigation, and upon redeeming the original ticket back at the store, they found out that the customer had won the jackpot prize of $1 million.
A similar case took place in Suffolk County this year when two Riverhead gas station clerks and the brother of one of the clerks were charged with scamming a customer who spoke little English out of a $74,892 prize. The clerks paid the customer $774 in cash.
The New York State Lottery Office requires winners to come into their offices to claim any prize over $600.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
