Grand Prairie store clerk accused of stealing $1 million lottery ticket from customer

07:57 AM CDT on Wednesday, October 21, 2009

From WFAA-TV

Authorities are looking for a Grand Prairie convenience store clerk who is accused of stealing a winning lottery ticket worth $1 million from a customer.

Pankaj Joshi is accused of lying to a 67-year-old customer and telling him that he won $2. Joshi is accused of then taking the winning ticket and cashing it in at lottery headquarters in Austin.

According to an indictment from Travis County, the customer, who apparently plays the same numbers all the time, had a winning Megaplier million dollar ticket. The clerk, who worked at the Lucky Food Store at 902 S. Great Southwest Parkway, told the customer it was worth $2.

After taking the cash option, Joshi transferred $750,000 to several different bank accounts. He then told his co-workers he had to help his cousin run a perfume store in Nepal.

Fellow employees sensed something was wrong because Joshi never played the lottery. They reported him to the lottery commission.

Lottery officials have recovered more than $200,000 from Joshi's bank accounts. U.S. Marshals are working with authorities abroad to locate him.

It was unclear whether the original winner will ever receive the $1 million prize.

Source & Comments:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/102109dnmetlottery.23a506efe.html

Interesting... It's not going to be easy to track Mr. Joshi in Nepal unless US authorities really give it what it takes...

A million dollar question is , Is he really a Nepali? He may be an Indian. He may be aware of the consequences that if the truth comes out US officials will try to search him and if he mention the name of Nepal then they will search him in Nepal only and he could escape to India.

Anybody in shajha has ever got chance to meet him?

I did met him once in 2005, when he worked in the same store....

He will be brought to justice very soon.

Raju: It sounds like you have insider information. What's the scoop?

@hemu - We grew up together during high school back Home. We went together to UTA. Infact, I know all his family and relatives very well.

STUPIDA

dherai naramro move. aba US marshall le timilai khojna auncha. ha ha. testo kura lekhnu cha bhane nepali ma lekhnu ni yaar.

ramsingh Ji...( u r funny and I was laughing too) what you think if they are really after him or even thinking of it, ?  If i write in Nepali, how hard it would be to find someone to translate these words? I think u r just trying to be funny huh?......hey Dude....What he did was his decision, I have nothing to do with it...Personally, he is one of those guy, who you want to to be around with...Now, When it comes to this much amount of money and the person he hardly knows.....I don't know what he thought....? hamroe nepal ma vanchan ni - "mahadev ko tinnetra.................."

 Yes, I heard this news few months back, then I thought it was just a joke. There are many Nepalese under US Marshall's scan due to this fraud. US Marshall got his Finger print, picture Nepal's home address, Ph number from his UTA's data file.

I don't think so.. StupidA does not have much to worry about.

It cannot be too hard for the cops to figure out his contacts/family in Nepal. They must have tons of documentation in the University International Office and Immigration. But the half a million dollar question is whether they will be able to find him at his home waiting to be apprehended and extradiated. If you ask me how I came to half a million dollar question, rather than usual one million dollare question, follow the math:

Total Winning = 1,000,000

Tax Withheld = 250,000

Total Recovered = 250,000 approx

Remaining = half a million.

 

Someone should raise funds in the community to compensate for the Genetleman who lost the money :-)

 

There are few pankaj Joshi  when I google which one is it ?? Picture plzzzzz

Where the hell is his pic

I think he is the same person who created a thread in sajha in which he mentioned about winning a lottery ticket of $1m. He did not mention about stealing thing in his thread. I think he was concerned about whether he could collect money because he worked in the same store where the lottery ticket was sold. Later he declared that he cashed the lottery ticket. We now know what the deal was. Titra ko mukh bairi. Badmasi gare pachhi mukh nakholnu ni.

I thought this post below.

http://sajha.com/sajha/html/OpenThread.cfm?forum=2&ThreadID=66685

But looks like this is not the one since this was in Dec 2008 and the fraud this thread talks about is of may 2009.

I'm not supporting anybody stealing money or anything from work. But I was wondering, how did the owner knew exactly which customer that winning ticket belong too. According to news links, the employer was the one who suspected that Pankaj stole  67 year old's ticket. However, there was no camera or any evidence whatsoever that this was the right guy to whom the winning ticket was sold. Is it just like another balloon kid hoax? Is the owner and this guy are creating a scam to divide the money. Don't get me wrong. I'm just emphasizing that anyone can cook up stories when it is a million dollar deal in USA. What evidence does US Marshalls have that the ticket was sold to this 67 years old? Any lead?

Instinct007: I think you have not read the whole story. Mr. Joshi seems never to play lotto and all of a sudden he won. The poor victim actually plays the same set of numbers each time and his numbers had won in the past. So I don't think you need rocket science to suspect this low life.

my prediction: Pankaj Joshi is gone forever. He will NOT be brought to justice.

For the individuals who know about the whereabouts and family members of the suspect, there is tremendous financial and moral opportunity if you can make a deal with the victim and law enforcement.

Remember, Eminem sang "Opportunity comes once in a lifetime, you never let it go". Make the best of it.

Mr. Hyde,