by Kim Eunha
Published 17 Apr.2023 14:10(KST)
Updated 17 Apr.2023 14:19(KST)
A man in his 40s was handed over to the prosecution on charges of breaking into a lottery shop after business hours in Jeju and stealing cash.
On the 17th, Jeju Dongbu Police Station arrested and sent to prosecution a man in his 40s, identified as Mr. A, on charges of special theft for breaking the glass window of a lottery shop with a hammer and stealing cash, according to Yonhap News Agency.
Mr. A is accused of breaking the glass window of a lottery shop in Ildo 2-dong, Jeju City, with a hammer and stealing 900,000 won in cash at around 2:19 a.m. on the 2nd.
The police received a report from the victim the next day, analyzed CCTV footage to identify the suspect’s appearance, and arrested Mr. A at his residence on the 9th.
During the police investigation, Mr. A reportedly admitted to the charges, stating that he used the stolen cash to purchase lottery tickets.
Meanwhile, the amount of unclaimed lottery winnings that expired last year reached 41.3 billion won.
According to data received by Kim Ju-young, a member of the National Assembly’s Planning and Finance Committee from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance’s Lottery Commission, the total amount of expired lottery winnings from previously sold tickets last year was 41.315 billion won.
If lottery winnings are not claimed within one year from the start of payment, they revert to the lottery fund.
Last year, one first prize winning ticket (2.379 billion won), 23 second prize tickets (1.241 billion won), and 1,412 third prize tickets (2.027 billion won) went unclaimed and expired. The number of unclaimed fourth and fifth prize tickets, which have fixed amounts of 50,000 won and 5,000 won respectively, was much higher.
Among the lottery winnings drawn in May last year, about 5.8 billion won has yet to be claimed.
Lottery operator Donghaeng Lottery announced on the 13th that the first and second prize winnings for the 1017th lottery draw held on May 28 last year remain unclaimed.
The winnings amount to 3.51768 billion won for the first prize and 58.63 million won for the second prize, sold at lottery shops in Dongjak-gu and Songpa-gu, Seoul, respectively.
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