Louisiana Lottery able to track down real winner
A woman was almost scammed out of her lottery winnings by the convenience store where she bought the ticket, according to Louisiana Lottery officials. But a simple step helped authorities find the rightful winner.
Fong Kwok hasn't had a day off in four years. So when she found out she won $10,000 in the Louisiana Lottery she was ecstatic.
"That day I just was so happy," said Kwok, who owns Bamboo Restaurant in New Orleans East. "I could not believe winning."
Kwok's Mega Millions ticket matched four of the five white ball numbers, plus the yellow Mega Ball number in the April 13th drawing.
But Kwok said a worker at the nearby convenience store where she bought the ticket, Downman Center, first told her she won only $3.
Lottery officials said one of the men who owns the convenience store, Raed Alhindi, 31, tried to cash in Kwok's winning ticket last month.
Kwok could have been swindled out of her $10,000 win if she hadn't done one thing, said lottery officials. She always writes her name on the back.
Officials said Alhindi crossed off Kwok's name on the back of the lottery ticket and wrote his own instead. But using special technology, lottery officials were able to lift his pen marks to reveal Kwok's original signature. They eventually tracked her down.
Kwok said she often bought lottery tickets from the Downman Center convenience store. Now, Alhindi has been arrested and charged with trying to cash an altered lottery ticket. Each of his four stores have been suspended from selling lotto tickets.
"I could not believe [it]," said Kwok. "Because every time I go over there, they are very nice."
But while Kwok is surprised, she's not angry.
"I [am] just very happy I got my money," said Kwok. "But that's all. That [is] okay."
Kwok bought another Mega Millions ticket Thursday. She said she'll always sign the back.
Her next order of business is to finally take a vacation.
"I need to go to Disneyland or SeaWorld," smiled Kwok.
Kwok plans to cash in her lottery ticket Monday at the lottery office in Metairie. No one from Downman Center convenience store was able to comment. Altering a lottery ticket is a felony. Alhindi could face up to 20 years in prison.
Good for her, and they should send this idiot to prison for 10 years or deport him if he was not born here...after he spends some time in prison and ownership of the store should be turned over to her as punishment for his dishonesty, at least his share of the store.
They need to make it mandatory in all states like in Illinois that the machine clearly shows how much the ticket is worth when it is scanned, visible to the customer.
Maybe, I just don't understand whats going on in the world. I know the economy is struggling but,
have things gotten so bad in this country that 10,000 dollars is worth a 20 year prison sentence?
Lucky woman. She was smart enough to sign the ticket at least. I too would be incredibly suspicious if I saw the name on the back of a ticket being scratched out.
I'm taking more advantage now of those self-serve ticket reading machines. More should too.
Glad she got her money, enjoy your trip.
Someone so at ease with telling a customer that a $10,000 ticket is worth $3 sounds very practiced to me. My guess is that few of these pathetic crooks are caught their first time. Their past "successes" surely make them feel like they'll continue getting away with it.
If someone is that smooth and slick, makes you wonder if anyone should be trusted to check your numbers. Just use the scanner, or better yet
your computer to retrieve the lottery website.
The photo's of this human garbage, should be posted everywhere, to further discourage and humiliate the other would be scammers.
Mrs. Kwok should be allowed that pleasure.
Scammer with the Scanner is in jail and the true winner is one step closer to a much deserved Disney vacation.
I love Happy Endings!
Good for her ,she got 10,000 for a dollar,and he got twenty years for three dollars.I love it when goofballs get caught,because if he did it once ,it will happen again.(not for a while now)lol
Have fun on your vacation,...........................................and to the store owner don't have fun on your vacation in the slammer.
Congras Ms. Kwok I am so glad you signed your ticket enjoy your vacation
....... Shame on you Alhindi.....
Sadly, this is the lesson that has been taught to us by bussness owners all across the United States : It's o.k. to try and screw someone out of money that is rightfully theirs. Big corporations do it on a daily basis. Greed is the new supply and demand mantra for business. Lying and cheating is the new code of ethics. Overcharge the bejeezus out of your customer is the new mission statement. We must all stop and give thanks to our government for setting the standard of business philosophy in the 21st century.
These stories keep popping up.
Store owners and clerks that lie to and steal from their customers seem to be more and more common place.
Also problematic scanners are being reported.
Seems the only person or thing you can trust to check your winnings is yourself.
I don't understand why people don't ask for print outs when they go to check their numbers.
This allows you to keep a record of the winning numbers with you which you can check over and over again if you don't believe you actually won.
I always check my own tickets on the web. Louisiana changed its lottery terminals so there is a small display where the customer can see it, that will show how much a ticket it after it's scanned. However, many retailers don't have it in an obvious place and some don't have it out at all.
I'm glad this thief got caught, hope he goes down for a long time.
I don't think the 10,000 equates to 20 years, it's the act of altering a lottery ticket, which is akin to forgery,
the amount is secondary.
"We must all stop and give thanks to our government for setting the standard of business philosophy in the 21st century."
Good Lord, that's a classic.
Yeah, they set such a great example, let's all run our finances like them. When you're broke and under a mountain of debt from reckless spending, just borrow some more money and spend it even more recklessly! That'll solve the problem!
LMAO.
Dollar to a donut he doesn't do any time.
First offense, probation.
Which sucks cuz it's doubtful this is his first offense, just the first time he got caught.
I'd like to know how many winners he's cashed in his name previously.
I would think that since the lottery department was studious enough to investigate the altered name they may have gone on to check the number of times this same guy has cashed in winning tickets in the past. It would be interesting to know how many winning tickets he's sent in since he started working at the store.
"I'd like to know how many winners he's cashed in his name previously."
Or how about all the free to $100 tickets he stole without signing his name. He was caught because he scratched off the winner's name. With thousands of stores in each state, there is no telling how many people are told their unsigned $600 plus tickets are losers and a clerk keeps the ticket and signs their name. The tickets that don't require signing probably amount to thousands in thefts every day.
The real problem is that many players don't even know the payoffs and the value of their tickets. Some will be happy if the clerk hands them $100 for matching 4 + 1. They are playing because of the multi-million jackpots and don't understand they can still can win something for matching less. It would be very difficult for these thieves to cheat, if every player knew the value of their tickets.
These morons are so stupid they don't know how to use this as marketing to increase their business. We have a few smart stores that advertise winners with big signs and they sell alot of lotto. He's gonna love his lawyer and fine fees.
The ticket was checked because a signature was crossed out and not because the clerk cashed multiple tickets. Dateline NBC ran a story about clerks, store owners, and other people cashing multiple large value tickets and the majority of them were "ten percentors". They got a percentage for cashing the tickets from players who wanted to avoid paying taxes, back child support, or just didn't want to wait to collect.
The act of cashing multiple tickets doesn't prove anything illegal was done.
A job well done by the Louisiana Lottery in helping to track down Fong Kwok for what is rightfully hers, and in denying what appears to be a verifiable seasoned, veteran, well experienced lottery winnings' thief, Alhinda, a day of victory in con and private Kleptocracy.
I hope that the Louisiana Lottery would be further inspired and encouraged to look into their records for possible past fraudulent claims that Alhindi may have made with or without success.
It is a Good day for Fong Kwok, and her victory is also a small victory for so many countless lottery players whose prizes had been swindled away by a few malicious Canadian and USA lottery retailers over the years.
Since the Louisiana lottery will be paying out money to Fong Kwok satisfied that the money is hers, after its security investigations, I suppose that, what is left to be done is for the balance of the process of the law to be completed, and I hope that this process ensures that greedy Alhindi with 4 retail business opportunities, gets the maximum time of 20 years that the law could possibly impose on him, on this matter.
Stupid people should be banned form playing lottery.
Fong Kwok hasn't had a day off in four years. So when she found out she won $10,000 in the Louisiana Lottery she was ecstatic.
"That day I just was so happy," said Kwok, who owns Bamboo Restaurant in New Orleans East. "I could not believe winning."
Kwok's Mega Millions ticket matched four of the five white ball numbers, plus the yellow Mega Ball number in the April 13th drawing.
But Kwok said a worker at the nearby convenience store where she bought the ticket, Downman Center, first told her she won only $3.
Maybe I missed something somewhere in the story, did she know she'd won $10,000 when she took the ticket to the store or did she find out about her win after the lottery commission tracked her down?
I suspect that she really doesn't fully understand the payout process of the Mega Million if she checked her numbers and didn't realize that she had a ticket worth ten grand and just handed it over to a store clerk.
I am happy to hear that she had the forsight to write her name on the back of her ticket.
I am also glad to see that the thief was caught and hopefully the courts will throw the whole book at him.
Hey, PERDUE,
I think she was just one of those people who hands the tickets to the clerks to check for her and trusts them to tell her the truth.
Bad idea.
Excellent question! Without her detected signature, probably would have gone under the radar. (For the clerk, Kwok and Lottery Commission).
he altered the ticket and basically erased her name and resigned it? that is ballsy
yikes I hadn't even thought of that. just think of the many (MANY) others who have previously been scammed by these crooks!
Good points, Stack.
I didn't even consider all the smaller prizes he was probably stealing for years that don't have to be officially claimed.
Good for her ! I wonder if the thiefs sorry he did it or sorry he got caught.
Just takes a few seconds to sign your name on the back. Nice to know that if someone alters your ticket they can be charged .
nice to hear she got her money
Props to the LA lottery commission. I'm glad the REAL winner got her winnings. I, too, wonder how many under $600 winnings this POS stole from people. There will never be a way to tell. I always know how much winnings I'll get back when I hand the ticket to the clerk. I haven't had one try and cheat me unless you count the POS that tried to keep my freebie PB ticket a couple months ago.
I had a clerk keep a free entry ticket for another drawing on me in Harlan, Kentucky last year.
Dirty bastage.
Well! can she also get the fee he would be paid for selling her the ticket. If not she should be able to get that money also he surely shouldn't get it! Good job Lottery Officals.Now ! let's put that Scammer in jail.
He probably had only been knocking off smaller prizes that didn't require the kind of security checks that cashing in tickets at the lottery office required.
Clearly some folks shouldn't be playing the lottery.Don't get me wrong,a$swhippins o' plenty should be handed to the 'camel cowboy' who did it but stuff like this gets old.
People really need to understand what they're playing.
I'm inclined to agree with you Ridge.
This makes me wanna pull out my stupid stick and smack her a couple of times for not checking her tickets herself.
Just SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SMACK-SAMACK.......
This is another Willis Willis story only with a wonderful ending.
Now the store owner is kicking himself for losing his licenses to sell lottery tickets in all four of his stores and possible prison time and the loss of everything he worked to build all because of a misguided sense of greed.
Now he's spending more than ten thousand dollars to clear his self-induced nightmare.
And his name wasn't Patel,either.
Bad man...very bad man!!!
L.L.
POS...whats that point of sale?
When i hand over my tickets i am just waiting for somebody to pull a fast one...
I will start cussing and yelling...and I will knock over the gum. I dont especially like it when i hand over the winning ticket and they rip it up in front of me vigorously like i dont have any emotional attachment to that ticket....that ticket was a work of art!!
I do NOT like to feel disrespected at the lottery terminal after all the KUCFing hard work i put in!!!
Some of these guys need a real lesson in customer service!!
@ cletus...i think his first name was alhinda...but his full name probably was alhinda mohammed vishnu patel!!!
one time somebody stole my ticket...and i was sitting at the computer waiting to see if there was Big winner at that store...I was really prepared to go Apesh*t!!
and yes i agree...being a business man with poor judgement...he will get a slap on the wrist...
i mean if he has four stores...than he already has some sort of connections..
LottoB ,
You're Presumming he will get OFF !! Having 4 stores has no Variable on the out come of the Case against him . It could have been any race that pulled this SCAM on the lady .
ok...i agree...its not about race..its about age and maturity...
all the guys who bust my balls are young...the old world indians are more honest...because they came directly from the old country...they understand how difficult it can be. But these young whippersnappers, the are too americanized...always trying to pull a fast one and be "wiseguys"...
there is no way he is doing 20 years...its not like a breaking and entering...the woman was at fault being dumb....and not knowing how to use a computer...or for not going to the store with the guy who cooks the fried rice as her back....those guys know kung fu, they dont f--k around.
That guy get three years tops...and maybe deported.
LottoB ,
Know you got it !!! Not all People are Honest it does not matter about Race .. Just use you're gut feeling . You do not know Louisiana to well .. Yes, Its her fault to for not checking here on Ticket/Tickets online from her phone , computer or even public library has free internet use ..