ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A metro region woman who scored a big lottery win didn’t get money when she went to claim her prize.
Instead, the 33-year-old received several criminal charges from the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.
It all started last Wednesday when a man reported to police that his wallet had been stolen and his credit cards were subsequently used to make several purchases in the Paradise area.
The RNC’s investigation revealed that the cards had been used to purchase a lotto ticket, which happened to be a winner.
So, when the purchaser came forward to claim her prize Thursday, the RNC were there to charge her with two counts of possessing a stolen credit card and five counts of fraud.
The woman was released from custody and will appear in court at a later date. The accused did not receive any lottery winnings and the amount of money was not disclosed by police.
As Thursday’s events were playing out, the RNC conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle that had brought the accused to the Atlantic Lottery Corporation office on Hallett Crescent and determined that 46-year-old female driver was suspended from driving, had no insurance and had not notified motor vehicle registration of an address change. She was ticketed and the vehicle was impounded.
