Last Updated: May 25, 2023, 14:28 IST
The government suffered a federal tax loss of over $6 million (Rs 45 crore). (Representative Image)
The duo falsely claimed over 14,000 winning lottery tickets, laundering more than Rs 165 Crore (USD 20 million) in profits.
A father-son duo in US have been sentenced to prison for operating a fraudulent lottery scheme. They reportedly made illegal profits by helping lottery winners in avoiding taxes on the prize money. Ali Jaafar and Yousef Jaafar, residents of Massachusetts, falsely claimed over 14,000 winning lottery tickets, laundering more than Rs 165 Crore (USD 20 million) in profits. They did all this while providing fake information on their tax returns. As a result, the government suffered a federal tax loss of Rs 49 Crore (USD 6 million).
The father has been sentenced to five years in prison, while the son received a sentence of 50 months. Additionally, they have been asked to pay over Rs 49 Crore (USD 6 million) as compensation and forfeit the profits they obtained through their fraudulent scheme.
Mohamed Jaafar, another son of Ali, was also involved in the fraud and pleaded guilty to cheating the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). He is currently awaiting his sentencing scheduled to take place on July 25.
In 2019, Ali Jaafar emerged as the top lottery ticket casher in Massachusetts. While, Mohamed Jaafar, ranked third and Yousef Jaafar was in fourth position.
In a statement, Joleen Simpson, a Special Agent in Charge of the IRS’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, told, “Instead of using business savvy and skill to build a legitimate multi-generational family business, the Jaafar’s carried out a complex decade-long tax and lottery scam, building a vast network of co-conspirators to further their illegal activities. Tax violations have been erroneously referred to as victimless crimes, but it’s the honest law-abiding citizen who is harmed when someone tries to manipulate our nation’s tax system.”
Between 2011 and 2020, Ali and Yousef Jaafar bought winning lottery tickets from individuals in Massachusetts who wanted to sell them at a lower rate instead of claiming through the State Lottery Commission. This allowed the real winners to avoid being identified and having taxes withdrawn. The Jaffars’ employed convenience store owners to assist them with the transactions. They then lied to the commission, claiming the full prize money as their own.
According to authorities, the licenses of over 40 lottery agents are currently being withdrawn or suspended by the state lottery commission.
Discover more from Divya Bharat 🇮🇳
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.