Investigators: California gas station clerk kept winning lottery scratchers, sold losing ones
The former manager of a San Bruno gas station has been charged with theft for allegedly keeping winning California lottery scratchers for himself and selling customers losing ones.
San Mateo County prosecutors say Shoiab Muhammad Mustafa of Pacifica sold four altered tickets to undercover California Lottery investigators.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday the 27-year-old gas station employee was charged with five felony counts of unauthorized computer access and a misdemeanor count of theft after stealing about $300 over a three-month period.
Prosecutors say Mustafa used a sharp object to remove a top layer of the tickets to reveal a unique three-digit code. He then entered the codes into a lottery system computer and kept the winning scratcher tickets.
