A 23-year-old Indian-origin man has been accused of stealing a $1 million lottery ticket from its rightful owner. Investigators found that the victim, a father who wishes to remain anonymous, had bought two lottery tickets from a Shell gas station in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on July 13. The father handed both tickets over to Mir Patel, who gave him cash for the lottery ticket with a smaller amount and kept the other ticket, which had a $1 million prize, for himself and pretended to throw it in a trash can.
Patel, 23, who worked as a clerk at the Tennessee store in the US, was arrested for stealing more than $250,000, according to the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office.
Patel reportedly tried to claim the $1 million prize at a Tennessee Lottery office, but staff members became suspicious.
Surveillance footage obtained from the store by investigators allegedly showed Patel taking out the trash, removing the winning ticket and putting it in his pocket.
“Video later shows Mr. Patel celebrating in the store after he scratched off the front of the ticket and learned it was a $1 million winner,” authorities said in a news release, Fox 29 News reports.
Detectives used the same surveillance video to identify the father as the actual owner of the tickets.
Investigators informed the father about the incident.
“The happy part of this story is that the father didn’t know he was the winner until we contacted him,” a spy said. “This is truly life-changing money.”