Man Learns A $10 Million Lesson After Telling Roommate About His Winning Lotto Scratcher

A California man nearly lost a $10 million winning lottery ticket after telling his roommates about it, enticing one to steal the ticket as its owner was sleeping.

A man living in Vacaville, California, purchased a $30 scratch-off lottery ticket from a Lucky grocery store on Dec. 20. Beating the odds, the man’s ticket turned out to be a winner that he thought would net him $10,000 in time for the holidays, The Washington Post reports.

The man, whose identity has not been released, returned home, told his roommates about his lucky strike and went to bed. The next morning, he went to the Sacramento district office of the California State Lottery to collect his prize, but officials said his ticket was worthless.

The man suspected his roommates of trying to cash in his winning ticket, and he went to the Vacaville police station to report the suspected theft.

“The next day his suspicions were proven true when his 35-year-old roommate, Adul Saosongyang, attempted to cash in the winning ticket at the Lottery’s Sacramento District Office,” the Vacaville Police Department posted on Facebook. “Adul was told his winning ticket was not worth $10,000 dollars, but was actually worth $10 million dollars!”

Saosongyang was not able to immediately walk away with the prize money. The Lottery investigates any winning ticket over $600 and, though Lottery officials did not suspect foul play when Saosongyang brought the stolen ticket in, begin attempting to verify its authenticity.

The investigation led lottery officials to view security footage from the Lucky grocery store during the Dec. 20 purchase, which led them to suspect the ticket was stolen. A police investigator and lottery official then met up and linked the two stories together, the reportedly stolen ticket and Saosongyang’s winning scratcher.

Lottery officials invited Saosongyang to collect his winnings on Jan. 7. When Saosongyang arrived at the office, Vacaville police arrested him and charged him with grand theft.

The police could not say whether the ticket’s rightful owner would receive the winnings, “although, I’m sure everything will work out in the end,” a police spokesman told WaPo.