Woman arrested over $3.5M lottery prize

WINDSOR, Ontario, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- A Canadian woman and her daughter have been arrested by Ontario Provincial Police in connection with cashing a disputed $3.5 million lottery ticket.

Mary Moore, 59, and Bobbie-Jo Arnold, 39, were charged Wednesday in the border city of Windsor and jailed overnight, the Windsor Star reported.

They face charges of fraud more than $5,000, possession of property obtained by crime, false pretenses and uttering a forged document in connection with complaints by Moore's 81-year-old husband Gerald Moore. He claims his winning ticket was stolen from his bedside table in April.

The man filed a civil lawsuit last month against his wife and stepdaughter, and the OPP and Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission launched an investigation. As a result, the bank accounts of the woman and all of her family were frozen, the Star said.

Meanwhile, Mary Moore filed divorce proceedings against her husband of 10 years, saying in her affidavit she bought her husband a new SUV and gave him $200,000 from the winnings. She did acknowledge withholding news of the lottery win until after he read about it in the Star, the newspaper said.