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Texas woman steals winning $1 million lottery ticket from cousin
Jan 23, 2023, 12:57 pm (16 comments)ShareTweetCopy Link
Thief pleads guilty to stealing ticket and prize money
By Kate Northrop
MINEOLA, N.Y. — A Texas woman duped her cousin, stole his winning lottery ticket worth $1 million, and claimed hundreds of thousands of dollars in a lump sum payout without his knowledge.
Iris Amador Argueta, 34, of Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty to stealing a scratch-off ticket worth $1 million from her cousin and claiming the lump sum payout in November 2020.
On October 28, 2020, the victim, who was not named in the Nassau County District Attorney's press release, purchased a New York Lottery scratch-off ticket from the $5 game "Hold 'Em Poker" at a 7-Eleven convenience store on Glen Street in Glen Cove. The ticket turned out to be worth $1 million.
Lottery winners in New York cannot remain anonymous, but it is possible to claim under an LLC to hide your identity from the public. To get around the state's privacy laws, however, the nameless winner reached out to his cousin, Argueta, to ask her to claim the prize on his behalf. He promised Argueta $50,000 in exchange for claiming the prize, which she agreed to.
Argueta, who lived in Virginia when the crime took place, drove up to New York to collect the ticket from her cousin. Since the New York State Gaming Commission was not accepting in-person claims due to COVID-19 restrictions, she filed a claim by mail and mailed the ticket on Nov. 13, 2020.
The thief showed up at her cousin's door weeks later with false paperwork made to seem like official documents from the New York Lottery stating that the prize was worth only $20,000. She then handed him an envelope with $13,436 in cash, telling him the rest of the money was kept for taxes.
Argueta forgot one crucial point — the reason why the victim reached out to her in the first place — lottery winners and prize amounts are publicly available on the Lottery's website.
An investigation and an Internet search, according to the District Attorney's office, turned up a press release on the Lottery's website that showed Argueta claiming the $1 million prize from the ticket purchased in Glen Cove. Not only that, but she had received the $537,440 lump sum after taxes.
Armed with this information, the victim contacted his cousin, who denied having any additional money for him and that he would "suffer legal consequences" if he continued to reach out to her.
A joint investigation aided by the Glen Cove Police Department confirmed that Argueta did in fact receive $537,440 in winnings from the Lottery.
"When the victim initially reported that his cousin had stolen his $1 million scratch-off ticket, it seemed farfetched that a relative could be so deceitful," Detective Lieutenant John Nagle of the Glen Cove Police Department said in a statement. "When the collaborative effort between the Glen Cove Detective Division and the Nassau County District Attorney's Office proved the victim's allegations to be true, the defendant was arrested, and a majority of the $537,440 lump sum prize money was located and returned to the victim. The worst part of the crime was the fact that it was perpetrated by the victim's own cousin."
After pleading guilty to one count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a C felony), Argueta is expected to be sentence to 1-1/3 to 4 years in prison on March 15, 2023. She forfeited $317,857 in winnings from her bank account, which were returned to the victim.
"This defendant thought she hit the jackpot when she passed off her cousin's $1 million winning scratch-off ticket as her own and claimed a lump sum payout of more than $500,000," DA Donnelly said. "But her greedy actions also spelled the end of her luck, and now she will serve time in prison for her crime."
Thanks to zephbe for the tip.
Lottery Post Staff
New York Lottery - official site
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cottoneyedjoe Jan 23, 2023, 1:26 pm
"When the victim initially reported that his cousin had stolen his $1 million scratch-off ticket, it seemed farfetched that a relative could be so deceitful," Detective Lieutenant John Nagle of the Glen Cove Police Department said in a statement.
He must not have been on the job long. Seems like a lot of these lottery winner dramas involve relatives, as well as supposedly close friends.
Tony Numbers Jan 23, 2023, 2:24 pm
The reason he got into this mess is because he tried to circumvent the privacy rule/ and or tax liability. It even stated in the story that you can remain anonymous by claiming it under an LLC. Because you obviously cannot trust your relatives.
sully16 Jan 23, 2023, 2:59 pm
Welp,Thanksgiving sure will be awkward .
MADDOG10 Jan 23, 2023, 7:09 pm
She'll get what she deserves in March. I hope she doesn't get a sympathetic Judge.
PrisonerSix Jan 23, 2023, 9:38 pm
Pitiful excuse for a human being.
pstfleur Jan 23, 2023, 10:34 pm
In response to sully16
Quote: Originally posted by sully16 on Jan 23, 2023
She will be in jail, so no thanksgiving for her this year
GiveFive Jan 24, 2023, 9:20 am
In response to MADDOG10
Quote: Originally posted by MADDOG10 on Jan 23, 2023
Me too with regard to the judge. But NY is a liberal blue state and in New York City there was once a sitting judge who the NYPD nicknamed "Turn 'em loose Bruce".... G5
Uncle J Jan 24, 2023, 11:03 am
And by "sympathetic"...I think we all know what you mean.
However...there are alot of "white knights" out there too. js
eddessaknight Jan 24, 2023, 1:53 pm
IS SHE GAME FOR LIFE?
mypiemaster Jan 24, 2023, 5:49 pm
Mi casa es su casa. Su $1m lottery ticket, es mi $1m lottery ticket. Too bad, life is not that simple.
Artist77 Jan 24, 2023, 7:34 pm
In blue NY, she will be released and likely without bail since no violence was involved. She will disappear or get 1 year at best and be released in 30 days due to prison over crowding. . NY does not care about theft or personal property crimes.
The people elected that Governor and the citizens are getting what they voted for...more crime.
eddessaknight Jan 24, 2023, 10:24 pm
'Avaritia facit bardus' -
Greed makes you stupid :-(
welington Jan 25, 2023, 9:12 am
He tried to cheat the system and got cheated on . Go figure
Those who dishonorably attempt to steal the golden fleece, are usually the ones who are fleeced themselves, wellington