Winning Scratchcard Leads to Bank Robbery Arrest

WINNING SCRATCHCARD LEADS TO BANK ROBBERY ARREST

Dexter L. Riley from Arlington Heights in Illinois, USA, had some luck playing scratchcards but one of his tickets ended up with him being arrested on suspicion of committing a bank robbery.Riley has been charged with holding up the Chase Bank in Palatine on September 28, getting away with over $8,250. So where does his lottery win come into all of this? Well, the 38-year-old left behind his winning scratchcard.It’s alleged that he went into the Chase Bank at 9.34am wearing dark clothes and a dark-coloured wig under a hooded sweatshirt and handed the teller a plastic bag and a note saying, “Put all the money in the bag and we won’t have any problems.” His left arm remained in his pocket indicating he may or may not be holding a gun.The teller emptied the proceeds of her draw into the bag and Riley left the bank. Hopefully the syndicate of bank workers from California, USA, who won a $543m Mega Millions jackpot and are still working won’t have a similar experience.However, he left something behind because the surveillance video revealed a piece of paper dropped out of his pocket. This turned out to be a scratchcard and with help from the Illinois Lottery, the FBI found that it had been sold at a gas station in Rolling Meadows. Ronnie Martin from Pennsylvania, USA, also bought his $1m winning Mega Millions ticket from a gas station.Further investigation showed that scratchcards sold at the gas station that evening had been cashed in at another gas station in Deer Park.  The surveillance video showed a person, matching the alleged bank robber’s description cashing in their winning scratchcard and then driving away in a Chrysler Pacifica. Later that evening the vehicle was pulled over and Riley arrested. Another lottery winner in trouble is Edward Putman from England who’s been charged over a £2.5m UK Lotto fraud. A lottery problem in Canada had a much happier conclusion as Barbara Reddit and her nephew Tyrone McInnis resolved a $1.2m Chase the Ace dispute.The FBI say Riley had admitted to the robbery and using some of the proceeds to buy the Chrysler Pacifica. The alleged robber has also been identified by the bank’s manager. Riley is yet to appear in court but if imprisoned he could still win again, as Australian prisoner Reginald Roberts who won a $973,320 Australian Lotto prize.Try your hand at the lottery game and play online with us at Lottery24.com.