He Asks Cousin for a Favor, She Steals His Lottery Payout

It's a strange tale of family thievery and the lottery. A 34-year-old Houston woman will go to prison after she admitted trying to dupe her cousin and steal his lottery jackpot, reports Fox News. Back in 2020, an unnamed man in New York's Nassau County won a $1 million payout in a scratch-off lottery ticket, per a press release from the county's district attorney. The man wanted to remain anonymous, so he asked cousin Amador Argueta to claim the prize on his behalf in exchange for $50,000.

Argueta did so, but prosecutors say she then forged lottery papers and told her cousin that the ticket had paid out only $20,000, per CNN. He didn't buy it, and he found a press release announcing that Argueta had collected a one-time lottery payment of $537,000. On Friday, Argueta pleaded guilty to grand larceny and is expected to receive a sentence of 1 to 4 years in March. She also had to forfeit more than $317,000 from her bank account to her cousin. (More weird crimes stories.)