A shop clerk and a coworker are accused of stealing a $3 million lottery ticket left behind by a client.
According to Plymouth County prosecutors, a man bought four tickets and a bag of potato chips on January 17 at Savas Liquors in Lakeville. The customer left the business without his winning tickets because Ms. Nunes, the checkout counter employee, only printed two tickets when she rung up the transaction.
When his identical Mass Millions numbers were announced that evening, however, the man quickly realized he had misplaced his tickets.
Two days later, Ms. Nunes and her boyfriend were driven by another shop employee, Mr. Reddem, to the state lottery’s main office, where she filed a claim for the win.
In the foyer of the building, however, officials overheard Mr. Reddem requesting a portion of the prize from Ms. Nunes, as she allegedly stated that she would “only pay him $200,000”.
Prosecutors claim that Ms. Nunes informed police during a follow-up interview that she had “inadvertently obtained” the ticket after surveillance footage from Savas Liquors quickly made clear how she had stolen the ticket.
Last Friday, a grand jury indicted Ms. Nunes on one count each of attempted extortion, larceny from a building, making a false claim, and witness intimidation, and Mr. Reddem on one count of attempted extortion. They will be charged at a subsequent time.
Meanwhile, the ticket’s original purchaser has been located, and the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission has said it will honor his claim to the $3m jackpot.
