a woman stole a ticket from her cousin who won a million dollars in the lottery

Family and friends are usually the most trustworthy people, but to confirm a rule there must be an exception. A woman from Houston, United States, was arrested for stealing a million dollar lottery ticket from her cousinwho gave it to her in exchange so she could remain anonymous and could now be sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Iris Amador Argueta, 32 years old, he also forged lottery documents to make his relatives believe that he had only won a small fraction of the grand prizeNassau County prosecutors said Tuesday.

The million-dollar embezzlement began when the victim purchased a $5 New York State Lottery Hold ‘Em Poker “Scratch-Off” at a 7-Eleven in Glen Cove in October 2022, and scratched off the ticket to discover his seven-figure prize, authorities said and reproduced by local media. Then, the man asked Argueta to claim the prize for him in exchange for $50,000, with the aim of remaining anonymous, according to prosecutors from the cause.

Iris drove to New York to get the ticket, and weeks later, she allegedly handed her cousin the fake ticket from lottery officials and handed him $13,436 in cash, telling him the state kept the rest in taxes.

However, the state had already issued a press release defending Argueta’s million-dollar jackpot, noting that she received a lump sum payment of $537,440.

When the victim confronted her cousin about the scam, she threatened him with legal action.

Nassau County officials said they recovered more than half of the stolen money from Argueta’s bank account. “The defendant took advantage of her cousin’s trust, allegedly lying and manipulating him in order to keep most of her million-winning lottery ticket for herself,” said Acting District Attorney Joyce Smith.

“Thanks to an excellent working partnership with the Glen Cove Police Department, we recovered over $300,000 in allegedly stolen funds and will aggressively prosecute this case,” he added.

Argueta is accused of grand theft and faces 15 years in prison.+

With information from agencies

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