North Texas Man Sues Over Stolen Lotto Ticket
AUSTIN (AP) - A North Texas man is suing the Texas Lottery Commission and others for $1 million in winnings from a lottery ticket prosecutors say was stolen from him in 2009.
Travis County prosecutors say a convenience store clerk in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie cheated Willis Willis out of the ticket, redeemed it himself and fled to his native Nepal.
Prosecutors recovered $395,000 from the clerk's bank accounts and obtained a court ruling that Willis is the ticket's rightful owner. But the lawsuit says the clerk received $750,000 in prize money after taxes -- money Willis says he has coming to him. The clerk remains a fugitive.
The Texas attorney general's office contends the lottery ticket is a "bearer instrument" redeemable by whoever holds it.
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