A man says his cousin stole his $1 million lottery ticket.
We haven’t been looking at our cousins right ever since Faith did Teri wrong. Now, a woman is being accused of stealing her cousin’s money after he won the lotto.
On Monday, 32-year-old Iris Amador Argueta of Houston, Texas, turned herself in Glen Cove police. On Tuesday, she was arraigned on a count of second-degree grand larceny and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, NBC News reports.
Her surrender comes after she allegedly made off with her cousin’s lotto winnings. Argueta’s cousin won $1 million on a $5 lottery ticket he bought in New York last year. To stay anonymous, the lotto winner – who asked not to be named – asked Argueta to claim the prize money so that he wouldn’t have to reveal his identity. For the task, the man said he would give her $50,000 of the money.
Instead of keeping the deal, Argueta allegedly took the majority lump-sum payout of $537,440.
“This defendant exploited her cousin’s trust, allegedly lying and manipulating him with the aim of pocketing the lion’s share of his $1 million winning lottery ticket for herself,” Smith said in the statement NBC News reports. “Thanks to a great working partnership with the Glen Cove Police Department, we’ve recovered more than $300,000 in allegedly stolen funds and will vigorously prosecute this case.”
She’s now looking at five to 15 years in prison. Investigators have recovered $317,825.46 of the money.
