Man Arrested for Stealing $10 Million Winning Lottery Ticket

Man Arrested for Stealing $10 Million Winning Lottery Ticket

Posted: Monday, Apr 08,2019 | Time: 07:04 am | Edited by: The Lottery Lab Staff

The incident took place in Vacaville, CA when Adul Saosongyang stole his roommate’s winning ticket worth $10 million and tried to cash in. This was a scratch-off ticket and the winner believed that he won $10,000 instead of $10 Million, that’s where it went all wrong for Saosongyang.

As Vacaville authorities state, Adul Saosongyang stole the ticket while his roommate was sleeping, left a forged copy of the ticket, and claimed the real ticket as his own. But he made a mistake by saying that the ticket was worth $10,000 but in fact, it was worth $10 million.

According to the Facebook post from the Vacaville Policy, the winner (Saosongyang’s roommate) went to a Lucky grocery store and purchased a $30 scratch-off ticket. After scratching the ticket, he realized that it was a winning ticket but he mistook the amount for $10,000 instead of $10 million and went straight home to tell the good news to his roommates.

The next morning, he went to the Lottery’s District Office to claim the ticket. The lottery authorities informed him that the ticket was a forgery. Suspecting that one of his roommates had stolen the ticket, the winner went straight to the police station to file a complaint about his stolen lottery ticket.

Meanwhile, Saosongyang went to the Lottery’s District Office in Sacramento to collect the cash prize. He wasn’t able to cash in the ticket right away because the prize was worth more than $600 and the state’s lottery board investigates all the prizes over $600. When Saosongyang visited the Lottery office, he confirmed the suspicions of the police. After that, police started working with the District Lottery Authorities to determine the real winner.

They arranged to get a copy of the CCTV footage of the Lucky store and reviewed it. After reviewing the surveillance footage, police learned that the man (Saosongyang’s roommate) visited the grocery store first to buy the winning ticket, and Saosongyang returned to that store a few hours later to get the same lottery game ticket of his own.

The police statement “confirmed that Saosongyang purchased a similar scratcher lottery ticket, modified it, and swapped it with his roommate’s winning ticket when he was sleeping.” According to the police, Saosongyang’s biggest mistake was altering the ticket incorrectly and putting on the fake winning amount of $10,000 as this was the amount he believed his roommate had won.

Saosongyang went to the lottery office at the invitation of lottery officials to claim his winnings, but actually, he was arrested on the charge of grand theft. It is still not clear which type of charge Saosongyang will face as it can either be classified as a misdemeanor or a felony. This case is still being investigating by the lottery officials and they will determine whether the roommate gets the money.

A ticket is a sole instrument to claim your winnings and you should be extra careful with your lottery ticket. This incident reminds us of how we should sort things out before breaking the big news of winning a lottery in front of our friends and family members.