A former convenience store owner has pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with the theft of a $5.75-million lottery ticket.
Hafiz Malik pleaded guilty Friday to stealing a Lotto 6-49 ticket that was purchased in 2004 by four friends who work for the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
Mr. Malik, who lives in Mississauga, cashed the lottery ticket seven months later. The legitimate winners, three women and a man, didn't discover they had won the $5.75-million jackpot until two years later.
One of the friends remembered that she had taken the ticket to a small convenience store in Toronto. The lottery terminal didn't ring to indicate a winning ticket, so the friend believed the cashier when he told her she hadn't won anything.
The friends eventually received their winnings, plus $788,000 in interest.
Greg Harris, the four friends' lawyer, welcomed Mr. Malik's guilty plea.
“It's a bit of closure for my clients, which they'll be happy to see happen,” he said.
Mr. Harris said he is looking forward to Mr. Malik's sentencing in March.
“Hopefully it's fairly significant so it does serve as a deterrent for anyone else trying to do something like that in the future,” he said.
Mr. Harris said his clients – Lorraine Teicht, Paul Carlisi, and sisters-in-law Silvana and Aurora Pincivero – are still employed by the school board and are “just living their normal lives.”
Hafiz Malik pleaded guilty Friday to stealing a Lotto 6-49 ticket that was purchased in 2004 by four friends who work for the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
Mr. Malik, who lives in Mississauga, cashed the lottery ticket seven months later. The legitimate winners, three women and a man, didn't discover they had won the $5.75-million jackpot until two years later.
One of the friends remembered that she had taken the ticket to a small convenience store in Toronto. The lottery terminal didn't ring to indicate a winning ticket, so the friend believed the cashier when he told her she hadn't won anything.
The friends eventually received their winnings, plus $788,000 in interest.
Greg Harris, the four friends' lawyer, welcomed Mr. Malik's guilty plea.
“It's a bit of closure for my clients, which they'll be happy to see happen,” he said.
Mr. Harris said he is looking forward to Mr. Malik's sentencing in March.
“Hopefully it's fairly significant so it does serve as a deterrent for anyone else trying to do something like that in the future,” he said.
Mr. Harris said his clients – Lorraine Teicht, Paul Carlisi, and sisters-in-law Silvana and Aurora Pincivero – are still employed by the school board and are “just living their normal lives.”
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