Store Clerk Tries to Nab Lottery Ticket from Undercover Official – Doesn’t End Well

A store clerk thought that he might be able to get away by shortchanging a lottery winner by $800 and later falsely claiming to the Florida Lottery that he had bought the ticket from the person. 

Your Ticket Is a Bust – But Here, Have Another One

Yet, what the Panama City store clerk, one Rohail Khan, didn’t know was that the person whom he lied to was, in fact, an undercover lottery officer, who was conducting a compliance field test, specifically to see if retailers were upholding the lottery’s rules, and yes – not trying to cheat players. 

The clerk, however, had no idea about this, and when he saw that a store customer’s ticket had won “$600 or more,” and had to be claimed in Tallahassee, the Florida Lottery headquarters, the man simply told the undercover officer that the ticket was a bust, and offered him a free ticket instead while he got rid of the “losing one.” 

Later, on May 26, the clerk showed up at the lottery headquarters and told the lottery officials that he had bought the ticket for $800 from the person who originally won it. 

It was then that the ruse fell through as the lottery informed him that it was their officer he “tried to cheat.” Pressed with the evidence, Khan admitted to his wrongdoing and has been charged with dealing in stolen property and unlawfully selling the right to claim a lottery prize. 

The Florida Police Department and the Florida gambling regulators have been actively looking to bust illegal gambling schemes involving unlicensed games of chance, usually slot machines.

In mid-May, the Manatee County police successfully seized 265 illegal gambling machines and more than $120,000 in cash, part of an operation executed in collaboration with the Florida Gaming Control Commission.