AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- A judge in Travis County, Texas, said a man who was cheated out of a lottery win will receive $395,018 in recovered funds.
Travis County Assistant District Attorney Patricia H. Robertson said most of the funds awarded to Willis Willis were recovered from U.S. bank accounts in the wake of Willis allegedly being scammed out of his winnings by a store clerk, The San Antonio Express-News said Wednesday.
Authorities maintain when Willis asked store clerk Pankaj Joshi to check his winning Mega Millions ticket on May 31, Joshi claimed the ticket was only worth $2.
Joshi has been indicted on a second-degree felony charge for allegedly claiming the ticket as his own and collecting the jackpot, worth $750,006 after taxes.
Authorities suspect Joshi fled the country to his native Nepal after his co-workers notified the Lottery Commission of their suspicions regarding the winning ticket.
Willis told the Express-News he is happy to finally have received a portion of his winnings, adding he will use some of the funds to pay his daughter's college tuition.
