illegal immigrant Father-of-four suing colleague after he asked her to cash $1million lottery ticket

DAILY MAIL ^ | 15 September 2012 | DAILY MAIL REPORTER

[dennisw]

An illegal immigrant is suing his workmate after he asked her to cash in his $1 million lottery jackpot but she kept his winnings for herself

Ramon Ortiz, an undocumented worker from Guatemala who doesn't speak English, won the fortune on a $20 Maryland Lottery scratch card two years ago but couldn't claim his $450,000 payout because he had no Social Security number. To get around the rules, he gave the winning ticket to colleague Rosa Lopez on the understanding that she would cash it and hand over the money, he said.

But she didn't keep her side of the bargain, instead pocketing the fortune he planned to send back to his wife and four children in Guatemala.

Now Ortiz is suing Lopez, who he still works with, for fraud, he told NBC News.

He has filed the suit in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, Maryland court records show. His lawyer, Milt Theologou, told NBC that Ortiz had a deal with the accused in which she would hand over all the winnings. But Lopez's lawyer, Isaac Klein, disputes the claim, saying the colleagues had a different confidential agreement but refused to specify what it was. Ortiz said he trusted Lopez with his life-changing $20 scratch card because a different friend cashed a $3,000 lottery ticket he had won a few years ago and that person gave him every cent.

[Jonty30]

Always get things in writing.

[ClearCase_guy]

Tears are coming my eyes, I’m laughing so hard!

[William Tell]

From the linked article: "But the Lottery taxes the [undocumentable] player’s prize winnings at the highest tax rate allowed by law for both federal and state taxes."

Do the people who favor illegal immigrants just make up these policies out of thin air, or is there a legal basis for accommodating such illegality?

[Doogle]

“Well I committed this fraud because I got away with fraud to years ago”

[mdittmar]

There is no honor among thieves.

[SamAdams76]

Best part of the story for me is that the woman is still working with this guy. I wonder if she parks next to him with her Lexus.

[Mark]

He says-she says.

[nothingnew]

But she didn't keep her side of the bargain...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Too funny, even for a Saturday!

FMCDH(BITS)

[SVTCobra03]

Why hasn’t he been deported?

[FR_addict]

So why didn't he ask the same person who cashed the $3,000 ticket and turned it all over to him. The person who cashed the ticket would be liable for the taxes.

This supposedly happened two years ago. He could have asked his priest to cash it. Seems like there should be someone he could trust besides a co-worker. Might be more believable if it hadn't been over two years ago. Was she supposed to turn over all the money and pay the taxes herself?

Who knows if it really happened.

[Mike Darancette]

So he committed a felony?

[SECURE AMERICA]

So he was a criminal and an idiot too!

[Uncle Chip]

Ortiz said he trusted Lopez with his life-changing $20 scratch card because a different friend cashed a $3,000 lottery ticket he had won a few years ago and that person gave him every cent.

Different friend, different time, and different amount.

[boop]

What's interesting is there is a scam called "Mexican lottery" where an illegal immigrant will go up to a hispanic looking American to claim a lotto prize, because you know, they're "illegal". They tell the dupe to check the numbers and that they'll "sell" the winning ticket for only 40K, even though it's a million dollar winner.

How does it work? The illegal buys a ticket with the winning numbers that were drawn last week. The dupe checks it out, not noting the date and thinks it is legit.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Crooks screwing crooks.