3 people indicted for lying to customers about winning Kentucky Lottery tickets

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A grand jury in Louisville has indicted three convenience store employees accused of failing to tell customers about winning lotto tickets.

The following people are under indictment: Indrias Joseph, a cashier at the River Road Shell located at 3002 River Road in Louisville; Jinalben Savadara, a cashier at the Five Points Food Mart at 4548 Taylorsville Road; and Divyang M. Vyas, who also works at the Five Points Food Mart on Taylorsville Road.

The specific charges include influencing the winning of a lottery prize through coercion, fraud, deception or tampering with lottery equipment or materials. They're also charged with providing false information to a lottery investigator.

According to a news release, the Kentucky Lottery's security department launched an investigation last year to determine if store clerks were following procedures for cashing winning tickets.

The Lottery's Integrity Testing Program started in February of 2018 and continued through July, and involved 60 retailers in Louisville. Some locations were chosen based on complaints, while others were chosen at random.

As part of the investigation, Lottery security personnel working undercover gave clerks tickets that would scan at the terminal as $18,000 winners.

"When the tickets were presented, security personnel told the clerks he or she didn’t know if any of the tickets were winners," said Bill Hickerson," senior vice president of security at the Kentucky Lottery Corp. "It was up to the clerks to scan the tickets to see if they were indeed winners."

The investigation started in February of 2018 and continued through July, and involved 60 retailers in and around Louisville. Some locations were chosen based on complaints, while others were chosen at random.

As part of the investigation, the Lottery printed special tickets that triggered internal alerts anytime someone tried to cash them.

The hope is that the indictments will serve as a warning to other store clerks.

"The majority of our retailers, I'm convinced, are going to do the right thing," said Senior VP of Communications Chip Polston. " In the cases when they don't do the right thing, we need retailers to know that we're watching out for that and that a ticket that they may try to keep and do something with could very will be another ticket in this operation because this is going to be an ongoing operation on our part."

Joseph will be arraigned Monday on March 4 at 11:30 a.m. Vadara and Vyas were indicted together, under the same case number, and they're both scheduled to be arraigned March 4 at 3:30 p.m.

"Store clerks who do not follow Kentucky Lottery policies, cheat not only individual winners and the Kentucky Lottery but the people of the Commonwealth as well," said Commonwealth's Attorney Thomas B. Wine.

Tom Delacenserie, the President and CEO of the Kentucky Lottery Corp., says he believes most retailers are not trying to cheat consumers out of their winnings.

"While I’m disappointed in the actions of these individuals, I continue to believe the overwhelming majority of our retailers and their clerks are honest in their dealings with our players," Delacenserie said.

Delacenserie also reminded players to take precautions by signing the back of tickets before handing them to store clerks - or use one of the self-serve ticket scanners available at most retailers. Players can also download an app on their mobile device to check to see if they have a winning ticket.

Players who believe they have been scammed are encouraged to contact the Kentucky Lottery’s security department. Information can be submitted by phone at (502) 560-1813 or via email at klcfraudwatch@kylottery.com.

Delacenserie said the Lottery's Integrity Testing Program will continue with some modifications. "These tests continue to be performed, as we want players to be confident their experience at a retailer will be a positive one."