crime

Lottery booth employee arrested for lying to customer about winning ticket

21 Comments

Working at a lottery booth or kiosk must be a drag. You have to watch other people win big and hand over cash everyday while probably making a less than stellar salary yourself.

So it comes as no surprise that one lottery booth employee in Sakai City, Fukui Prefecture, succumbed to the temptation to pocket someone else’s big winning ticket for herself and telling them they lost.

Fukui prefectural police said this week that last Oct 3 at around 5:30 p.m., a 70-year-old Sakai resident went to his local lottery booth to check his LOTO6 numbers.

He handed his ticket over to 59-year-old clerk Kimie Morikawa who told him “you should just leave this with us, it’s a loser.”

The man did, but felt uneasy that Morikawa didn’t return his ticket after checking it. He went home and decided to check his numbers (he played the same numbers every week) in his newspaper.

Upon seeing that he actually matched five of six numbers which qualified him for the 3rd tier prize of 550,000 yen, he went to the police.

At the time of her arrest, Morikawa had already cashed in the winning ticket but denies the charges of fraud saying, “I noticed it was a winner afterward.”

Source: Chunichi Shimbun

Read more stories on RocketNews24 -- Japanese Thieves Steal Thousands of Lottery Tickets -- Woman Arrested for Attempting to Rob Convenience Store -- Most Patient Bank Robber Ever Arrested in Fukuoka

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21 Comments
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In N.Y. , when a winnr goes through it plays a Marching Tune-Love Hearing that one!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

There should be a noise that goes off when a winning ticket is scanned

0 ( +0 / -0 )

There should be controls in place you can't trust anyone with money.... after checking the numbers electonically, the machine should just ring a bell so loud that the entire shop knows

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Cheaters never proper...shameful...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Here in Virginia, the lottery has installed barcode scanners operated by the customer, not the clerks. It scans the barcode printed on the ticket and tells the customer whether the ticket has won, but not how much is won (in case anyone is looking over their shoulder). Then the customer can either present the lottery ticket to the clerk or go home and look up the actual winnings on their own. The clerk isn't going to be able to pass the ticket off as a loser.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

"Fukui"

This would never happen in Tokyo...

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

It is their job to serve customers and there is no excuse!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

She did win - a free stay at a local jail!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It was a clear cheating. She was supposed to show the result on the screen. And the computer show the result instant. That woman should be arrested and check her past winnings also. It should be a lesson to all those clerks.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Some oddly sympathetic remarks made here about the poor lottery clerk who sees people winning money all the time (actually they see people lose money far more than win it). What about the poor bank clerks, or anyone else who handles money for that matter? Theft is theft.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

bajhista65 at Jan. 12, 2013 - 05:47PM JST Hahahahahaha..... for her age I can't believed he swindled the old man. I was duped by a 7/11 cashier/staff one time. I checked my receipt and noticed two ice cream but I only bought one. The funny thing was, he was eating the ice cream in front of me. Always check your receipts and count your change. hehehehe

Oh my god!! This is hilarious!!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The Japanese has finally:( started cheating....what a world!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

what was he going to do with the money anyway? Go to the Pachinko or buy a Louis Vuiton bag for his granddaughter, haha

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Hahahahahaha..... for her age I can't believed he swindled the old man. I was duped by a 7/11 cashier/staff one time. I checked my receipt and noticed two ice cream but I only bought one. The funny thing was, he was eating the ice cream in front of me. Always check your receipts and count your change. hehehehe

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Yet another example of how shady sh&t happens in Japan. I've been told for many years that the honesty of Japanese citizens shouldn't be questioned. This country suffers from all the same crap that every other country suffers from. Every year it seems to be growing in numbers of at least publicized accounts of robbery,violence and dishonest within the Japan society.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

Friends tell me this type of thing only happens in the West. I call b*ll. Dishonesty knows no boundaries.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Always Check & check again-then keep it under your hat until you confirm it with Lottery offices Don't tell anyone you won until the$$$ is in the bank & you're sippin' Mai Tais on the beach!

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Yes, this is a common occurrence everywhere because some clerks can't resist the temptation. And I'm sure people have been successfully cheated in the past.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Man i saw this this type of sting on What Would You Do the other day. I couldn't believe people could be so dishonest. Better check your numbers yourself. And Karma is gonna get those crooks down the road.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Everyone should check their own numbers. The same thing happened in Canada. Additionally, I would never buy a scratch ticket. If a lottery booth owner had a needle and a good magnifying glass, they can easily check the tickets to see if they are winners. If they are losing ticket, they could just put them back on the market.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

At the time of her arrest, Morikawa had already cashed in the winning ticket but denies the charges of fraud saying, “I noticed it was a winner afterward.”

Yes, of course. A mistake anyone could make.

12 ( +13 / -1 )

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