WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A woman claimed she won $20,000 in the lottery but was denied her prize. However, the Virginia Lottery now says she may face charges.
On Aug. 22, Ardella Newman claimed she purchased a $2 scratch-off ticket that matched the number 16, making it worth $20,000.
“When I saw that $20,000, you don’t know how excited I was,” she told WJLA.
Virginia Lottery officials told her there had been a mistake and the ticket was issued in error.
“I want the money that I thought I won. If you look at the ticket, it says I won this money. It wasn’t anything that I did wrong. It’s what they did wrong,” she said.
Newman filed a complaint with the Virginia Lottery. On Wednesday, lottery officials released the findings of their investigation and concluded that there were actually two different issues with both that ticket and a previous ticket Newman had tried to cash.
The Lottery drew three conclusions:
The lottery said this second winning ticket had been taped together
There was second case involving Newman was not reported in the media, the lottery said, and once again involved two tickets. This time Newman had claimed them to be worth a prize of $52.
Officials added that they are reviewing her case to see if any other actions are necessary.