MELBOURNE, Fla. – Florida Lottery investigators arrested a Melbourne man, accusing him of altering a winning lottery ticket in order to cash it in.
According to court records, investigators said Kyle Andrew Stoker, 38, presented a $1,000 winning Monopoly scratch off card at the lottery regional office in Altamonte Springs.
They said lottery staff members observed "erasures in the signature area of the ticket."
Because of that, they forwarded the ticket to the Division of Security for investigation.
They said forensic investigators determined there was "overwriting, erasures and correction fluid in the signature area of the ticket."
They also determined "two different inks were used to write."
Investigators said they were also contacted by a man claiming to be the real owner of the winning ticket, stating the ticket was lost or stolen, but he had a photo of the ticket on his cellphone with his name and address written on the back.
The owner of the ticket told News 6 he accidentally left the ticket in a shopping center on Eau Gallie Boulevard.
Investigators arrested Stoker on Sept. 27, and they charged him with altering a lottery ticket, which is a third-degree felony.
Stoker has a court hearing scheduled for Oct. 29, at which time the court hopes to resolve the entire case.
