Shopkeeper claimed customer’s Lotto win

A VILLAGE shopkeeper has been jailed for keeping a customer’s £20,000 winning Lottery ticket and claiming the money for himself.

Guildford Crown Court, in Surrey, heard that Kartik Shah scanned a ticket from customer Michael Harris who wanted to see if it was a winner before he bought anything in the Londis store.

“Mr Shah scanned the ticket and didn’t say anything to Mr Harris. Mr Harris then left the premises assuming he hadn’t won anything,” said Leesha Whawell, prosecuting.

However, the ticket, which Mr Harris had bought elsewhere in Oct 2016, had actually won £20,000.

Ms Whawell said Shah cancelled the original scan then re-scanned the ticket after Mr Harris had left so he could claim the money for himself.

“Mr Harris wasn’t aware that it was a winning ticket,” the prosecutor said.

Camelot, which runs the National Lottery, became suspicious when it became clear the ticket had been scanned twice and claimed by a store owner with a Lottery terminal.

The company managed to track down Mr Harris because he had picked the same numbers on his ticket several times before and the court was told he would receive his £20,000 winnings shortly.

“The matter was then reported to the police and Mr Shah was arrested,” Ms Whawell said.

“Mr Harris says he has lost his faith in people as a result of what has happened.”

Shah had admitted one count of fraud at an earlier hearing and his defence barrister, John Mcnamara, said he was of previously good character.

The court heard that the 35-year-old was ashamed of what he had done and he was described as a pillar of his community in Kingswood, Surrey.

His National Lottery franchise had been withdrawn from his store and he had lost his status as a sub-postmaster, Mr Mcnamara said. He said that the loss of that post office work and of the store’s Lottery terminal would cost Mr Shah £44,000 a year.

“The resulting reduction of customer footfall has affected the turnover of the business,” he added.

Karen Lawlor, a probation officer, said: “I don’t see how his business can survive without this.”

She added: “Had it not been for the safety measures put in place by Camelot, this fraud could have gone unnoticed.” In his sentencing remarks, Judge Neill Stewart referred to positive character references about Shah from local people and to the voluntary work he had done in the community.

He added: “This offence was a very severe breach of the public trust reposed in you. It has been critically damaging to your business. Your family are no doubt devastated by this.”

The judge jailed Shah for eight months.