Camelot Vigilance Sees Lottery Prize Returned

A 77 year old great-grandmother was left stunned last week when Camelot workers turned up on her doorstep and told her that she might be the winner of a seven digit lottery prize.

The news was even more surprising since Maureen Holt had already checked the EuroMillions lottery card at her corner shop and had been told that it was not a winner.

It turned out that a worker in the corner shop, Farrakh Nizzar told Holt that her scanned ticket showed no wins, even though a scan on the lottery machine confirmed that her numbers had won the draw eight days earlier.

As soon as Holt left the store, Nizzar called UK National Lottery operator Camelot and said that he had the £1 million winning lottery ticket.

Camelot Picks up on Lottery Fraud Attempt

Camelot's sharp eyes, however, soon picked up on the fact that things were not matching up. Nizzar told them that he had purchased the ticket at the store where he worked in Oldham, where in fact it had been purchased at a Tesco store in the town.

Using the contact details on Holt's Tesco Clubcard which she used to purchase the lottery ticket, Camelot was able to trace the true owner, while CCTV proved that she had bought the ticket.

Nizzar soon realised that the rope was tightening and went on the run, before being arrested by the police. Charges of fraud by false representation were brought against him and he will be sentenced this week.

"I thought he was a nice young man," said Holt after the hearing. "He knew me and my husband by name. He would ask after my daughter. I still feel sorry for him that he's done it. Everyone calls him Lucky but he wasn't lucky this time."

The owners of the store said that they grew suspicious after Nizzar started speaking about buying a new car and revealing that he had won the lottery.

After investigators turned up at the store, the owners approached him and asked him if the ticket was really his. "He swore on the Koran and on his mum and dad's life it was his ticket," said one of the owners.

Winner's Husband can Finally Retire

Maureen Holt's Camelot lottery prize couldn't have come at a better time. Her 80 year old husband can finally retire from his job in a security firm, something which he has been unable to afford to do.

The couple have seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren and will no doubt be very busy spoiling their offspring with their newfound EuroMillions fortune.