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

Family and friends are usually the most reliable, but there must be an exception to prove a rule. A woman from Houston, USA He was arrested for stealing a million dollar lottery ticket from his cousinWhoever gave it to her in exchange so she could remain anonymous now faces up to 15 years in prison.

Iris Amador Argueta, 32, He also forged lottery documents to convince his relatives that he had won only a small portion of the huge prize.Nassau County prosecutors said Tuesday.

The million-dollar scam began in October 2022 when the victim bought a New York State Lottery Hold ‘Em Poker “Scratch-Off” at a 7-Eleven in Glen Cove. The man then asked Argueta to claim the reward for himself in exchange for $50,000, officials said and reproduced by local media.

Iris went to New York to get the ticket and a few weeks later, she allegedly gave the fake ticket to her cousin from lottery officials. He handed him $13,436 in cash, and the government kept the rest as taxes.

However, the government had already issued a press release defending Argueta’s million-dollar jackpot. He received a total of $537,440.

When the victim confronted her relative about the scam, he threatened 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 by lying and manipulating her to keep most of her winning million dollar lottery ticket for herself,” Acting District Attorney Joyce Smith said.

“Thanks to your excellent work with the Glen Cove Police Department, we have recovered more than $300,000 in what was allegedly stolen and will continue to aggressively pursue this case,” he added.

Argueta is charged with grand larceny and faces up to 15 years in prison

With information from agencies

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