Father and son sentenced for $20M lottery fraud.

Massachusetts Father and Son Duo Sentenced for $20 Million Lottery Fraud Scheme

It’s a conspiracy that sounds like it’s straight out of a movie. A father and son duo from Massachusetts have been sentenced in federal court for fraudulently claiming more than $20 million in lottery prizes and falsifying their tax returns to avoid paying over $6 million in federal taxes.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced that 29-year-old Yousef Jaafar received a 50-month prison sentence, while his father Ali Jaafar, 63, received a five-year jail term. They were also ordered to forfeit their ill-gotten gains and pay restitution exceeding $6 million.

The two were found guilty of one count of conspiracy to launder money, one count of conspiracy to deceive the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and one count each of filing a false tax return in December.

“Over the course of a decade, this father-and-son team defrauded the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission and the IRS to pocket millions of hard-earned taxpayers’ dollars,” said acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “These defendants worked together to recruit a wide network of co-conspirators and spread their lottery scam across Massachusetts, avoiding detection by repeatedly lying to government officials.”

The Jaafars collaborated with individuals known to the grand jury and those who were unknown to them from at least 2011 until at least June 2020. Their scheme involved purchasing winning lottery tickets from residents of the state who preferred to sell their ticket for a cash discount, rather than keeping their winnings. The state lottery commission, which is obligated to “withhold outstanding taxes, back taxes and child support payments” before distributing the reward, would have been able to identify the true winners as a result.

The defendants would claim the prize money to the commission as their own after purchasing the cheaper tickets from the winners, with the assistance of gas station owners who would “facilitate the transactions,” the announcement continued.

In a “elaborate ‘ten-percenting’ scheme,” according to the prosecution, the Jaafars illegally redeemed over 14,000 lottery tickets worth more than $20 million. Further profits were made by the defendants “reporting the winnings on their income tax returns and claiming equivalent fake gambling losses as an offset, thereby avoiding federal income taxes and receiving fraudulent tax refunds.”

Other News:

• National Political Correspondent Neil W. McCabe interviewed Sean Gallagher, brother of retired Navy SEAL Senior Chief Eddie Gallagher, about why his brother’s Pipe Hitter Foundation agreed to support Marine Lance Cpl. Catherine Arnett
• One America’s Bridget Bosco discusses opportunism of human traffickers at America’s southern border with Becky Murray, Founder and CEO of One By One,
• Ron DeSantis finally enters the 2024 GOP Primary.
• The families of two of the victims in the University of Idaho killings reserve the right to sue the city of Moscow.
• SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Chinese hacking teams have been blamed by Western intelligence agencies and cybersecurity groups for digital intrusion campaigns across the…
• By Nathan Frandino SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – If ChatGPT can help you write an essay or devise a meal plan, could it…
• By Liz Hampton (Reuters) – Shale technology advances that propelled the U.S. to the top global oil producer spot with world-beating growth…
• By Casey Hall SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Chinese food delivery giant Meituan on Thursday reported a return to net profit in the first quarter…

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases