Two liquor store clerks have been indicted for a scheme in which they cashed a $3M lottery ticket that had been left behind by a customer. Two clerks from a Massachusetts liquor store have been charged in relation to an alleged plan to take a winning $3 million Mega Millions ticket and cash it in at the Massachusetts Lottery Headquarters, prosecutors announced this week.
The Plymouth County Grand Jury issued indictments on Tuesday against Carly Nunes, aged 23, from Lakeville. She is facing charges of larceny from a building, attempted larceny, presentation of a false claim, and witness intimidation. This announcement was made by Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz.
Following a four-month investigation that included a comprehensive review of records, video surveillance, and witness interviews, charges have been brought against Nunes by Cruz’s office.
On January 17, 2023, an individual is reported to have visited Savas Liquors located on Bedford Street in Lakeville. They procured a bag of barbecue potato chips as well as two Massachusetts State Lottery Quick Picks for the Mega Millions lottery and two for the Mass Cash lottery. Additionally, they chose the jackpot multiplier to potentially enhance their prize amount from the Mega Millions.
Nunes, the clerk at the checkout counter, entered the order into the lottery terminal and produced two lottery tickets. He then went back to the cash register and calculated the man’s order, which came out to a total of $12.
Prosecutors allege that the victim purchased a bag of chips and went to leave the store, forgetting his lottery tickets at the check counter. That evening, it was announced that the same numbers that he had on the tickets were the winning numbers in the Mega Millions drawing. The victim then looked for the tickets but concluded that they had been lost.
Two days after, Joseph Reddem, a 32-year-old from Manchester, New Hampshire working at Savas, drove Nunes and her partner to the Massachusetts Lottery Headquarters in Dorchester to collect the reward, as per prosecutors.
Joseph Reddem was also charged with attempted extortion in relation to Nunes’ plan.
2 Mass. liquor store clerks indicted in scheme to cash $3M lottery ticket left behind by customer
At Lottery headquarters, a customer service worker scanned the torn and burned winning ticket presented by Nunes and confirmed that it was worth $3 million. Prosecutors then reported that Nunes and her boyfriend “embraced” and “celebrated” upon hearing the news.
Prosecutors asserted that shortly after Nunes cashed the winning lottery ticket, surveillance footage captured the two arguing in Lottery Headquarters’ lobby. Subsequent inquiries uncovered that Nunes supposedly declared to Reddem she would only give him two hundred thousand dollars of the reward.
Lottery officials interviewed Nunes due to the argument that was heard and the state of the ticket that was presented, according to prosecutors.
Ms. Nunes stated that she bought the ticket on Jan. 17 at the end of her shift, that she tore the ticket accidentally while taking it out of her bag, and that the burn marks came from putting it onto a pipe.
Lottery administrators ultimately informed Nunes that they intended to call Massachusetts State Police in order to initiate an investigation, and when a resolution was achieved, she would receive her prize.
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A review of surveillance video from inside Savas revealed that the ticket wasn’t purchased by Nunes. When confronted with this evidence, she allegedly said that she had “inadvertently obtained the winning ticket.”
Surveillance footage from inside Savas showed that Nunes was not the one who bought the ticket. Upon being presented with this information, she reportedly claimed that she had “inadvertently obtained the winning ticket.”
The authorities eventually located the victim and questioned them. Lottery officials declared that they will uphold the victor’s right to the jackpot. Subsequent to this, Nunes and Reddem were charged with the indictments and will attend a court hearing at a future date.
