(ProsperNews.net) – A father and son in Massachusetts have been jailed for pulling off the largest lottery fraud scheme ever uncovered in the state. Ali Jaafar and Yousef Jaafar from Watertown near Boston operated the scam for nine years and pocketed around $2 million at taxpayer’s expense.
Known as “ten-percenting,” the scheme involves purchasing winning lottery tickets for 90% of the value, thereby allowing the winner to avoid declaring their windfall on tax returns. A United States Attorney’s Office statement explained that the ticket buyer then claims the lottery win as their own and collects the total value. They then report the “winnings as their own on their income tax returns and claim fake gambling losses to offset the claimed winnings, thereby avoiding federal income taxes and receiving tax refunds.”
Over the nine-year period, the Jaafar family cashed in 14,000 lottery tickets worth more than $20 million and gained $1.2 million in tax refunds. The scheme unraveled when the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission became suspicious about the family’s extraordinary luck; to win the lottery so many times is statistically almost impossible, the Commission said.
The Jaafars learned about Massachusetts lottery winners through a vast network of connections with convenience store owners who would contact them when there was a big win.
The father and son team pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and one count of filing a false tax return.
Ali Jaafar moved to the United States in 1990 after winning what his wife described as the “visa lottery.” Originally from Lebanon, he frequently described himself as the luckiest man in America because, despite speaking no English and having little money, he accumulated enough funding to purchase a taxi business in 1992 and buy his first home near Boston five years later. His son Mohamed has previously worked as an intern for former Senator John Kerry.
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