Watchdog: Lottery winner is still the loser after someone else takes prize

Anna Pounds faced the usual odds any of us would when she laid down $3 for a "Cashword" scratch-off Texas Lottery ticket. But what the Arlington grandmother didn't bargain on was having a winning ticket denied by a cashier who later took it to another store to claim the $500 prize himself.

Imagine the odds of that happening.

The Texas Lottery Commission is seeking to revoke the lottery license of Arlington store owner Haji Gul Khan, who operates PAK Food Store at 300 Randol Mill Road. The commission suspended Khan's license in November, pending further action after investigating a complaint Pounds made Sept. 3. His case could go before the State Office of Administrative Hearings in Austin as early as the end of this month.

Pounds bought her lottery ticket at Khan's store and scratched it off at home. At first, she thought she had won $5. Her granddaughter, though, pointed out that she had matched enough numbers to win $500.

So Pounds made a photocopy of the winning ticket, then took it to Khan's store Sept. 3 to collect her money.

She's still waiting for it.

After scanning the ticket, Khan told Pounds that it wasn't a winner. Pounds said she asked for the ticket back, but he said he had thrown it away.

Here's what really happened.

The commission's GWARE database, which records all lottery transactions in Texas, shows that the ticket was scanned and confirmed as a $500 prizewinner that day at Khan's store, but then the transaction was canceled.

There were failed attempts to cash the ticket at a Fort Worth gas station and a grocery store in Arlington. Then Khan presented Pounds' ticket, No. 829-0017477-112, at a Tom Thumb grocery in Arlington on Sept. 6, three days after declaring the ticket a dud.

A store videotape shows Khan pocketing the $500 prize and immediately leaving without buying any groceries, according to the commission's report.

Pounds, meanwhile, had filed a complaint with the commission, providing her photocopy of the ticket as evidence that she had won.

On Sept. 27, Texas Lottery Commission investigator John Graham questioned Khan. The following is a snippet of the exchange, according to state records.

Graham: "...back on Sept. 3, a lady came through the drive-thru and she had a scratch-off ticket ... that she thought was a $500 winner. ... She handed you the ticket. ... And you came back and told her it wasn't a winner. ... You told her you had torn it up and thrown it away. ... What was the deal with that?"

Khan: "No. ... It was not a winner. ... I said it wasn't. ... I look for the ticket and could not find it. ... I look around, and I couldn't find no ticket. And I thought maybe I threw it in the trash. And I look in the trash and couldn't find nothing. ... I told her, 'You can come here and look, but I believe it was not a winner.'"

He testified that he had gone to the Tom Thumb with his daughter "to do some shopping" but found he was short of money. Instead, he said he discovered the ticket he had inadvertently put in his pocket. He cashed it with the intent of giving Pounds her winnings, according to his testimony.

Khan said he couldn't find her, though Pounds said she had been a customer at his store for 20 years.

"He took advantage of me," she told The Watchdog.

Looks like the commission didn't buy into the odds of Khan's account, either. After a February hearing, an administrative law judge found that Khan "knowingly claimed the $500 lottery prize by deceit and misrepresentation and represented that the ticket was lawfully obtained," according to the commission's report.

Criminal charges of claiming a lottery prize by fraud, deceit or misrepresentation were brought against Khan, but a Tarrant County grand jury declined to indict.

As a result, Pounds said, Khan didn't have to pay her.

"Now, isn't that justice," she said.

The commission didn't pay Pounds for her winning ticket, either, said Robert Heith, its director of media relations. By policy, a winner has to present the actual ticket to collect the money, he said.

She is not the only lottery player who has lost out on winnings. Since last May, Texas Lottery Commission investigators have found evidence in nine cases that a winner had not been properly paid, Heith said.

"We tell players that lottery tickets are a bearer instrument, just like a check, and to sign the back of the ticket if they think the ticket is a winning ticket," Heith said.

Pounds said she hopes that the state will revoke Khan's lottery license.

I went to PAK Food Store on Monday to speak with Khan. An employee who identified himself as a relative said Khan was not at the store. The man indicated that he would contact me by telephone. As of Monday night, Khan had not called.

Need a watchdog? Requests should be made in writing to watchdog@star- telegram.com or mailed to P.O. Box 1870, Fort Worth, 76101.

If you have a tip about an investigative story, contact the Star- Telegram investigative team at 817-390-7027.

Need help?

To improve the odds of getting your lottery prize, sign the back of a winning ticket. Call 800-37-LOTTO or visit www.txlottery.org to file a complaint if you suspect anything unusual after buying or playing a ticket.