Syracuse Men Who Turned in $5 Million Lottery Ticket Charged with Fraud

Remember the two Syracuse brothers that turned in the winning $5 million dollar lottery ticket 6 years later?  If not, here's how the story originally was told.  It seemed fishy then, and it turns out really smelly now, with fraud charges and another man scammed out of his winning lottery ticket.

District Attorney William Fitzpatrick says lottery officials didn't buy the story being told by Andy and Nayel Ashkar from the beginning.

Suspicious lottery officials,  in hopes that the real winner would come forward, put out a detailed press release that the brothers won the $5 million prize, Fitzpatrick said.

 

According to ABC News, the investigation began when Andy Ashkar offered to take less than the $5 million if he could avoid the usual press conference that accompanies big lottery winners.  Apparently when the real owner of the ticket went to redeem it at the Ashkar's family store, he was told it was worth $5 thousand not 5 million.  And Ashkar offered to redeem it for 4-thousand so the man could avoid taxes.  Read the full story here.

SOURCE: ABC News