Watch the Hansen Files - See how many store clerks
have collected lottery prizes at the Claim Centers

Before you read the Nov 2, 2009 Houston Chronicle below, read my comments
- by Dawn Nettles -
Below is the 3rd news story regarding the clerk who stole a $1 million winning ticket from a player.
I'd like to explain HOW the player could identify his ticket and accuse the clerk of stealing his ticket.
Unlike MOST of you who purchase Quick Pick tickets, the player bought a Self Pick ticket - one
that he's played for years. He knew what his numbers were, how much the ticket cost, how many
lines of numbers were purchased on that ticket and exactly when he bought the ticket and
exactly when he took the ticket to have it checked by the store. It wasn't until after he found out that
the store had sold a winning ticket that he saw what the winning numbers were for that draw -
then - he KNEW they were his numbers. The TLC/G-Tech can confirm all of these facts.

For those of you who buy Quick Picks, how many winning tickets do you think you've been
cheated out of because you trusted a clerk to check your ticket or the new ticket checkers?
One thing is for sure, what you don't know, doesn't hurt! Do you know what numbers were
on the ticket that you handed to that clerk or threw in the trash can? You have no idea how
many people take their tickets to the store and ask the clerks to check them. And those people
could NEVER stake claim on a winning ticket because they don't have a clue as to what was
on the ticket. Retail owners would LOVE to not have their personnel spend their time
doing this for free - but the TLC makes them do it.

You only hear about the big claims. You don't hear about the MILLIONS of dollars stolen
from players for the low tier prizes - $2, $5, $20, $100, $500 etc. Store clerks/owners
know which of their customers have never checked their own tickets and all players
expect to hear - "Sorry, there's no winners here."

I had planned to tell you about the hell other players have gone through to collect their winnings
tomorrow but I am going to hold off on posting these stories. The reason is that a reporter has
contacted me about these "disputed claims" and has expressed an interest in writing the story.
It would be much better if the mainstream media would cover this issue - especially for
one player who was paid $35K where the TLC stopped payment on his check the next day
without telling him. If the reporter does not cover these stories, I WILL post them so
you can finally know what the TLC is really capable of doing to innocent people.

In the meantime, ALL of you should watch the Hansen Files - Another investigation
showing all the store clerks/owners who have cashed in winning tickets - it's unbelievable -
and read the Houston Chronicle story below where the TLC is refusing to take responsibility
for their failure to "really" check out this store clerk when he arrived to collect $1 million in prize money.

Clerk who claimed man's jackpot called winner
By PEGGY FIKAC Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Nov. 2, 2009, 9:17PM

AUSTIN — Willis Willis, cheated out of a million-dollar jackpot, went to the Texas Lottery Commission Monday to see if there was a way to get his money.

Instead, his lawyers said, commission attorneys told the 67-year-old Grand Prairie man that they consider the jackpot's winner to be a store clerk who was charged with claiming a lottery prize by fraud after he allegedly snagged Willis' ticket and collected the winnings.

“The Lottery Commission for the first time today informed Mr. Willis that they consider the lottery agent who stole his ticket to be the winner of the lottery … because the clerk who stole the ticket — the agent of the lottery — signed the back of it,” said Willis' lawyer Sean E. Breen.

“Let that sink in,” he added.

Breen said the commission's general counsel, Kim Kiplin, and two other lawyers refused to answer any of their questions.

“I came here with hopes, but the hopes have been dashed now,” Willis said. “I didn't think that I would just be told that, you know, ‘Too bad, you lose – even though you won.'”

Commission spokesman Bobby Heith declined to comment.

“It's the policy of this agency not to discuss any pending litigation,” Heith said.

Ticket bearer is winner
Breen said all available legal action will be taken “to get Mr. Willis the money he rightfully won.”

Austin Police Cpl. Scott Perry said that is why officials advise winners to be sure to sign the backs of their tickets. The Austin Police Department is one of the agencies that worked on the case.

“Whoever is bearing the ticket is who gets the prize,” Perry said. “The bearer of the ticket is the owner of the ticket, and they only pay the winning prize once. They were presented a ticket they had no idea was fraudulent, and they followed through with their end of the deal.”

That does not mean Willis is entirely out of luck, however.

Officials said $365,000 of the jackpot has been recovered from U.S. banks, out of a total of $750,006 that had been paid to clerk Pankaj Joshi after taxes.

Looking for the clerk
Travis County Assistant District Attorney Patricia H. Robertson, who is prosecuting the case, said her office is working with federal authorities and Interpol to try to locate Joshi and the rest of the money.

“We hope to return the stolen funds to Mr. Willis,” Robertson said. “Mr. Willis is the rightful owner of the funds that we seized from Mr. Joshi's accounts.”

The case arose after Willis bought the winning Mega Millions ticket May 29 in Grand Prairie, according to the Austin Police Department. Willis asked a clerk to check it and two other tickets on May 31. He was told he had won $2.

On June 25, the clerk — identified as Joshi — presented the winning ticket at the commission in Austin, which validated it and transferred the $750,006 to his bank account.

After Joshi's co-workers became suspicious of his apparent lottery win and called the Lottery Commission, the agency investigated and presented its findings to the district attorney's office. Joshi was indicted on a charge of claiming a lottery prize by fraud, a second-degree felony.

Lottery watchdog Dawn Nettles, who runs The Lotto Report Web site, said problems like Willis' are the reason she thinks clerks should not be allowed to check whether players' tickets are winners.

“If they're big enough to buy a lottery ticket,” Nettles said, “They're big enough to check their own ticket.”

pfikac@express-news.net

("Pending Claims/Disputed Claims" - What Texas lottery players
have gone through to collect their prizes - you won't believe it!
Story to come)

--------

Man who says he was scammed wants lottery money
Authorities say convenience store clerk made off with winnings.

By Steven Kreytak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Willis has medical bills past due, a toothache he can't afford to fix and the hope — if not the money — to help his daughters with their college tuition.

The 67-year-old Grand Prairie maintenance man, who authorities say had his lottery winnings stolen by the store clerk he asked to check his ticket in May, said in an interview Tuesday that the $1 million prize would let him climb out of an economic hole. After doing that, Willis said, he might buy some new golf clubs.

"I am not a wealthy man," he said. "I am a working man, live paycheck to paycheck."

Now, as authorities search for Pankaj Joshi, who was indicted in Travis County this month on a charge of claiming a lottery prize by fraud, Willis' lawyers are demanding that the Texas Lottery Commission pay his winnings.

"It is undisputed that Mr. Willis won fair and square a million dollars playing Texas Lottery," said Willis' Austin lawyer, Sean Breen. "The only issue right now is when is the lottery going to pay the money that they owe him."

Texas Lottery Commission spokesman Bobby Heith said Willis' demands are being reviewed and declined to comment further.

Willis worked as an apartment complex maintenance man until he was hospitalized for high blood pressure in November. He had to leave his job and move in with a grown daughter, one of his six children.

Since then, Willis has worked various maintenance jobs through a staffing agency.

He said that for several years he had cashed his paycheck at the Lucky Food Store on Great Southwest Parkway in Grand Prairie, a Dallas suburb, and bought up to $20 in lottery tickets. He then returned to the store on Sundays to check whether any of his tickets were winners before heading across the street to Mary's Outpost, a bar where he regularly watched NASCAR.

"Everyone in there was very friendly, very respectable," he said of the store.

On May 29, according to a police affidavit, Willis cashed a $237.80 check and bought $20 in lottery tickets. Two days later he returned just before 4 p.m. to have his tickets checked, the affidavit said.

Willis said that the clerk at the store stands behind a large Plexiglas wall and that the lottery machine is out of sight of customers. He said he handed his ticket to the clerk, a friendly man whom he did not know by name, and was told that he had won $2. He took the $2 and left.

"You can't see the machine, nor can you hear it," he said.

Authorities say that it was Joshi who was working that day and that he redeemed the winning ticket, which they believe was purchased by Willis, at lottery headquarters in Austin on June 25. After withholding taxes, lottery officials wired $750,000 to a Washington Mutual account provided by Joshi.

A tip from Joshi's co-workers, who said they never saw him play the lottery, triggered the investigation, police said.

Police have seized $365,000 of what they believe are lottery proceeds from several bank accounts opened by Joshi. The rest, Austin police Detective Billy Petty said, was probably wired out of the country. Petty said he thinks that Joshi, 25, who had worked at the store for about five years while attending the University of Texas at Arlington, has returned to his native Nepal.

Breen, one of Willis' lawyers, said that lottery officials erred in giving the money to Joshi.

"Mr. Willis did absolutely nothing wrong," Breen said. "When an agent of the lottery shows up in Austin — a store clerk — to reveal a million-dollar ticket, that's a red flag the size of Texas that something's rotten."

Comment by Dawn Nettles ...
Clerks steal players winnings everyday and the TLC knows it. The TLC refuses to halt clerks from checking players tickets claiming it's a "courtesy to the players." They are unrealistically promoting for players to sign their tickets - as if we have that much time. Not to mention the problems that could arise should the ticket be a winner and the winner realizes he's going to collect using an alias name. They are promoting use of the new ticket checkers - which are computers/scanners that can and do err.

The TLC should pay this player - it's their fault that the clerk was ever in a position to steal the players ticket in the first place. They have been warned repeatedly - for years - about this awful flaw in their business - with the last warning from me at the comment hearing in May 2009. But they will TRY to stall this case for years. The winner needs to have a Property Rights Hearing so he can collect his money ASAP. Judges frown on the actions of the TLC - I know - I was part of a hearing where we successfully obtained a court order forcing the TLC to fund the players prize money.

("Pending Claims/Disputed Claims" - What Texas lottery players
have gone through to collect their prizes - you won't believe it!
Story to come)

(Comments by Dawn Nettles - Additional comments below stories)

Watch Video (10/21/09), click here

Grand Prairie clerk accused in $1 million lottery fraud

07:24 AM CDT on Wednesday, October 21, 2009

By DARLA MILES / WFAA-TV

GRAND PRAIRIE — State authorities are looking for a Grand Prairie convenience store clerk who allegedly stole a $1 million lottery ticket from a customer.

Pankaj Joshi is accused of lying to the 67-year-old customer who presented the ticket, telling him that he only won $2. Then, Joshi allegedly kept the million dollar ticket for himself and cashed it in at lottery headquarters in Austin.

Investigators believe Joshi — who had worked at the Lucky Food Store at 902 South Great Southwest Parkway for about five years — may have fled the U.S. to return to his home country of Nepal.

Co-workers said Joshi never played the lottery; that's why they got suspicious when he suddenly quit and moved out of the country.

The man who presented the winning ticket to Joshi allegedly plays the same numbers all the time. According to an indictment from Travis County, the customer had a Megaplier million dollar ticket , but the clerk incorrectly told the customer he had won only $2 and sent him on his way. ("Incorrectly?" Store clerks do this every day but the state and the TLC refuse to forbid clerks from checking players tickets - I've been working on this issue for years to no avail!)

Joshi took the cash option and transferred $750,000 to several different bank accounts. He then told his co-workers he had to move back to Nepal to help a cousin run a perfume store.

Fellow employees, however, sensed that something was wrong and reported Joshi to the lottery commission.

Lottery officials have managed to recover more than $200,000 of the ill-gotten gains from several of Joshi's bank accounts.

U.S. Marshals are working with law enforcement officials abroad to try and locate Joshi.

It has not been determined whether the 67-year-old who originally had the winning ticket will ever receive the $1 million prize.

E-mail dmiles@wfaa.com

Watch Video WFAA TV (10/21/09), click here

A Very Important Message To Lottery Players
Opinions by Dawn Nettles - The Lotto Report

I cannot begin to tell you how many times - over many years - I have requested that the Texas Lottery forbid clerks from checking players lottery tickets.

Not only have I gone to the Texas Lottery, but I have gone to the Sunset Commission, the State Auditors Office and to quite a few Texas Legislators about this very issue - all requests fell upon deaf ears.

I have asked for a law to be written on this very issue - to no avail.

As early as 1999, I posted a list of things that the Texas Lottery needed to either do, or stop doing to either be fair to players or to protect players. (The link in the sentence above shows you ONLY one place this can be found on my website)

I have posted so many warnings to players about checking their own tickets - do not under any circumstances let someone else or ANY computer check your tickets. Check them yourself.

I have spent countless hours advising players NOT to use those web sites that gives players the so-called programs allowing you to "CHECK YOUR NUMBERS" via a database on the internet. This is because ONE incorrect number typed in by a "human" can cause players to throw away a winning ticket. Humans make mistakes even those who work at the lottery.

And please notice that NONE (that I've seen) of these "Check Your Numbers" features warn players by disclaimers that they are not responsible for any errors - they don't expect players to ever dream there could be a mistake. And they don't want to alert you to that possibility either. They don't want to DECREASE their unclaimed prize funds.

And don't think for one minute that the lotteries data bases are error free - because, clearly, they are NOT. And this is where you find these CHECK YOUR NUMBERS programs.

ONE incorrect number typed in by the player can result in a player throwing away a winning ticket. Do you have any idea how easy it is to make a typo?

Don't trust clerks to check your tickets either. They steal ... If you only knew how many people they see every day and the clerks know that the players have no idea what numbers were drawn. It is soooo easy for them to lie not to mention - tempting. Many clerks remain store clerk because of the "fringe benefits" of working there!

And finally, if clerks stealing is not bad enough, lottery terminals err in scanning tickets too. I have tickets and receipts that proves lottery terminals err. Sometimes, the lottery has admitted it but most of the time, they deny it. Those scanners are no different than the scanners you find in grocery stores. How many times have you seen a grocery store clerk have to type in a bar code in order to charge you for the product you are buying? Well, in the case of the lottery terminals that err, UNFORTUNATELY, the terminals say "NOT A WINNER" when the scanner errs. Clerks respond and report to you whatever message they get.

To make my point VERY clear - did you know that when the winner of a HUGE Mega Millions jackpot went to claim his prize in Ohio, when the Ohio Lottery scanned his ticket, the terminal said "NOT A WINNER." He knew better and the lottery said it was just a "hick-up in the computer system" - well, I don't believe that.

Personally, I believe it was suppose to say that as I believe the validation code was changed in HOPES that whoever held that ticket was a player who didn't check his own tickets but depended on the clerks or terminals to check the tickets for him. I often wonder IF this is why we have so many unclaimed JACKPOT winning tickets that go unclaimed. Of course, no one could ever PROVE this.

In closing, let me say, when it comes to MONEY, there is only one person you can trust - and that is yourself.

Check your own tickets.