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Two 18-year-old men in Texas have been arrested after they allegedly were running a large-scale lottery fraud scheme netting more than $1 million.
Fraudulent lottery tickets
On July 18, 2024, police in San Angelo received a call from Walmart Global investigator Clint Lee saying Walmart corporate was investigating fraudulent lottery ticket redemptions, according to arrest affidavits obtained by KIDY-TV.
Lee told Detective C. Barker that an investigation helped them determine Carmelo Daniel Amigelo and Ryan Munoz, were creating fake winning transactions, taking cash from the registers and pocketing it. The pair would sometimes transfer the funds to debit cards they kept.
Amigelo and Munoz were employed at the Walmart Neighborhood Market, located at 1852 Sherwood Way in San Angelo.
Authorities said they obtained video surveillance from the store, as well as secure database platform reviews, which showed the teens creating fake winning transactions and then pocketing most winnings in cash between $300-500 at a time.
Over $1 million in fraudulent transactions
The affidavits state Amigelo was Operator #52 and Munoz was Operator #55. All of the surveillance videos officials obtained showed only Operators 52 and 55 making the fraudulent lottery transactions.
The transactions happened between January 1, 2024, and July 4, 2024, and the amount taken was $747,933, according to authorities. However, that amount was only what had been calculated within that specific timeframe. Officials did an expanded search, which showed even more had been stolen.
Big purchases for teens working at Walmart
For two 18-year-olds working at Walmart, the duo definitely made some very high-end and expensive purchases. On April 23, 2024, they bought two 2024 Kawasaki dirt bikes from Family PowerSports.
Officials talked with the sales manager, who said he remembered the transactions and produced the sales receipts for the bikes. Amigelo bought his new bike for $6,737.22 and paid cash for it. Munoz purchased his new bike for $8,602.12 and paid cash for it.
Authorities went to the home of Munoz and found a Chevrolet Camaro. They ran the plates and saw it was bought from a used car dealership, Pee Wee Cray Fairly Reliable Used Cars in Weatherford.
Officials contacted the owner of the used car dealership, who told them Munoz paid $32,500 in cash for the car on January 9, 2024.
Ongoing investigation
Authorities said they watched the video footage of the customer service desk at the Walmart location where Amigelo and Munoz worked. Both of the men were “in care and control of the customer service desk which holds access to the lottery terminal maintained by Walmart,” the arrest affidavits state.
Officials said they saw both Amigelo and Munoz creating the fake winning transactions and either pocketing the money or transferring it to their debit cards.
Amigelo and Munoz were arrested and charged with theft greater than $300,000, officials said.
The investigation is ongoing.
Enjoy playing the Texas Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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