A Spanish woman won 15 million euro ($12 million) on a lottery draw in 2017, but her local shopkeepers allegedly attempted to con her out of most of the winnings.
Seven years later, and the married couple who owned the store have now been sentenced to prison for three years. They have also been told to pay back 11 million euros in compensation. Two other smaller winning ticket holders, who unwittingly benefited and committed no crime, were also told to compensate 1 million euro to the victim.
A court judge in Valencia sentenced the store owners on November 1. The couple told the victim, who purchased lottery tickets from the store every week, that three winning tickets had been purchased at the store that week, and they were unable to verify which ones belonged to whom.
In fact, two winning tickets hit for $250,000, but only one for the $12 million top prize. None of them belonged to the store owners, but they claimed one did. They used that to convince all three legit winners to split the total $12.5 million prize with them four ways.
The real jackpot winner initially agreed to the scheme, but then withdrew support and reported it to authorities. Seven years later, the matter has reached a conclusion.
The Winning Ticket
The victim bought the ticket to a special Father’s Day lottery draw on March 12, 2017. As she usually did for her weekly lottery purchase, she bought the ticket at a now-closed bar and general store in the small town of Pedralba in the province of Valencia.
Being it’s a small town (population ~3000 in 2023), many of the rural residents nearby don’t have reliable internet services. So people often left their lottery tickets with the couple at the store to check for them.
The Spanish Lotería Nacional works on a system of 100K different possible six-digit numbers. Because of that relatively low number, anyone could cover all those combos with just 100,000 euro and ensure a jackpot win. Something similar happened earlier in 2024, on a larger scale, with the Texas Lottery.
To prevent this 100K investment for a guaranteed win, the lottery gives each ticket an extra series number between 1 and 99, which acts as a bonus ball of sorts.
Only winning tickets in a drawn series will hit the top jackpot prize.
Due to this quirk, three players at the local store actually picked all the correct lottery numbers for that week’s draw – 39,813. That meant each of them was due a $250,000 prize. But only one of the tickets, the one bought by the eventual victim, hit the correct series number and won the $12 million jackpot.
The Fraud and the Consequences
After checking the tickets online and realizing the big win, the store owners contacted the victim and told her she was a winner.
They asked her to come to the store and collect her ticket. However, on arrival the couple lied to her and said that the tickets had been mixed up and there was no way of knowing who purchased the $12 million winner. They also claimed to own one of the winning tickets. They did not.
The couple convinced the jackpot winner that the fairest way forward was to split the winnings between her, the couple, and the two other legit winners. That totaled around $3 million each.
The couple independently called the two other winners to confirm they had assented to splitting the pot. The jackpot winner, being nervous and excited, also agreed.
The couple had previously lied to the other winners about their own non-existent winning ticket and convinced them to join the split. However, after a lawyers contract was brought up in the following weeks, the victim became suspicious. In November 2017, they instigated legal proceedings against the couple.
The pair have now been convicted of fraud and sentenced to three years in prison. The victim will have their due monies of 17 million euros ($12 million) returned to them.
The couple acted “with the intention of obtaining a financial benefit and in execution of a preconceived plan devised with her husband,” the judge said, according to local media.
The victim’s lawyers criticized the court and the Spanish legal system for what they said was an unduly long seven-year case.
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.
