Texas woman scams her cousin out of a $1 million lottery win, New York officials say
A Texas woman was arrested after scamming her cousin out of a $1 million lottery win from a scratch-off ticket, officials in New York said.
Iris Amador Argueta, 32, of Texas, surrendered to police on Nov. 8 and is accused of forging lottery paperwork “to mislead her cousin about the value of the prize,” the Nassau County District Attorney’s office said in a news release.
She “exploited her cousin’s trust, allegedly lying and manipulating him with the aim of pocketing the lion’s share of his $1 million winning lottery ticket for herself,” said Acting District Attorney Joyce Smith.
The district attorney’s office declined a request for further comment from McClatchy News.
The alleged manipulation occurred after Argueta’s cousin, who’s name was not released, bought a New York State Lottery $5 Hold ‘Em Poker scratch-off ticket at a 7-Eleven in Glen Cove, a city on Long Island, and won the $1 million jackpot prize in October 2020.
The cousin wished to remain anonymous and asked Argueta if she could claim the prize for him, promising her $50,000 worth of winnings for doing so.
Argueta drove to her cousin’s home in New York from Virginia, where she lived at the time, and obtained the winning ticket before mailing it to the NYS Gaming Commission in November 2020, according to the release.
Weeks later, she allegedly tried to convince her cousin he had only won $20,000, forging paperwork from lottery officials to sell the ruse.
Authorities said she gave him an envelope of $13,436 in cash, explaining the rest had been withheld for taxes.
Some time after, he searched online and discovered a NYS lottery news release that named Argueta as the winner of the $1 million lottery ticket, the release said, with her receiving $537,440 after taxes.
When Argueta’s cousin asked her about the cash, she “allegedly insisted that she did not have any additional money” and threatened “legal” consequences if he continued to contact her, prosecutors said.
So far, authorities recovered $317,825.46 in “allegedly stolen funds” from Argueta’s bank account.
Argueta was charged with one count of second-degree grand larceny and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument on Nov. 9, according to the release.
“If convicted of the top count, the defendant faces up to five to 15 years in prison.”
Argueta is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 23.
This story was originally published November 10, 2021 at 8:52 AM with the headline "Texas woman scams her cousin out of a $1 million lottery win, New York officials say."
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