Stolen Lottery Scratcher Investigation Reveals $10 Million Winning Ticket
VACAVILLE (CBS SF) – Authorities announced on Tuesday that the recent investigation into a stolen scratcher lottery ticket led to an arrest and the discovery that the recovered ticket was actually worth $10 million.
According to a post on the Vacaville Police Departments Facebook page, a shopper visiting the Lucky Grocery Store on Peabody Road December 20 bought a $30 scratcher ticket in the hopes of winning extra cash for the holidays. The shopper lucked out, winning what he thought was a $10,000 prize.
The man went to his home and shared the news with his two roommates. The next day, when he went to the Lotterys district office in Sacramento, officials told him that the ticket he turned in was not a winner and had in fact been altered.
This led the man to think one of his roommates might have stolen the winning ticket while he slept that night. He immediately reported the theft to the police department.
The next day, his suspicions were confirmed when his roommate, identified as 35-year-old Adul Saosongyang, attempted to cash in the winning ticket at the same Sacramento office. The suspect was informed that the winning ticket was actually worth $10 million.
At this point, Lottery officials were unaware the ticket had been reported stolen and began an administrative investigation that is conducted for all winning tickets valued at over $600. When the Lottery investigator went to the Lucky store in Vacaville to obtain video surveillance footage of the original purchase, they were told the ticket might have be stolen.
That was when the Lottery investigator and a Vacaville police detective started comparing notes and collaborating on the theft investigation.
Authorities determined Saosongyang had purchased a similar Scratcher ticket, altered it and swapped it with victims winning ticket.
On Monday, the Lottery investigator invited the suspect to the Lottery's Sacramento office to collect his winnings. But instead of receiving a large check from officals, Saosongyang was instead arrested by Vacaville police who had obtained an arrest warrant for him for grand theft.
Saosongyang was booked into Sacramento County Jail and will be transferred to the Solano County Jail later this week.
