Store owner pleads guilty to stealing $5M lotto

[Aaliyyah]

It was a traumatic and tumultuous time for four long-time friends and co-workers who hit the lottery jackpot and ended up doubting each other.

 

But the guilty plea Friday of former Toronto convenience store owner Hafiz Malik has brought the fleeced friends some closure, says their lawyer, Greg Harris.

 

Malik admitted he stole their winning 6/49 lottery ticket and pocketed $5.7 million, though he pleaded guilty to defrauding the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., which cut the four a cheque for the full amount, plus almost $800,000 in interest, two years ago.

 

"It was a very stressful period," for the rightful owners of the money, Toronto Catholic District School Board employees Aurora Pincivero, Lorraine Teicht, Silvana Pincivero and Paul Carlisi, Harris said.

 

As he has done on previous occasions when making court appearances, Malik, 62, shielded his face with a scarf to avoid having his picture taken as he left Old City Hall. He's still on bail and a sentencing hearing is set for March 16.

 

When Teicht brought the winning ticket to his tiny shop on Dupont St. in June 2004 for validation, he "did not tell her it was a winner," Crown Attorney Philip Perlmutter told court reading from an agreed statement of facts.

 

Malik hung onto the ticket before claiming it as his own in January 2005.

 

Malik then went on a spending spree: moving from his Toronto apartment into a $1 million mansion in Mississauga and buying a LandRover and a Mercedes.

 

In February 2006, one of the bonafide winners checked the lottery numbers and discovered their usual picks had come up. Suspecting Teicht had stolen the money and hidden it offshore, they hired a private investigative firm called Internal Affairs.

 

That, as it turned out, is now the subject of other criminal charges since it is alleged the owner of the firm produced phony reports of offshore holdings, further fuelling the group's suspicions.

 

The two accused are due in court later this month.

 

After retaining Harris as their lawyer, himself an alleged victim of Internal Affairs on a completely unrelated matter, the group complained to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.

 

The Ontario Provincial Police began to investigate and in December 2007 charged Malik.

 

Unlike Malik, the four friends have managed their windfall in modest fashion, Harris said Friday.

 

"They're all very, very level-headed individuals. They were able to help out family members and go on a vacation here and there but no one really changed their lifestyle dramatically," Harris said.

 

The Malik case is important for a number of reasons, particularly because the Lottery Corporation did the right thing, he said.

 

"That new approach that they weren't going to sweep these matters under the rug any longer showed in their diligence in continuing to pursue Malik through the criminal process."

 

Perlmutter told Ontario Court Justice Rebecca Shamai on Friday the province is bringing a forfeiture application.

 

Police have already seized a total of $5 million in assets including his Prince John Blvd. home in Mississauga's Sherwood Forrest neighbourhood, near Erin Mills Pkwy. and the QEW.

[Aaliyyah]

It gives bad impression of muslims. It's unfortunate.

[Nin-Yaaban]

I never play the lottery, but if I did and I was checking to see if I won anything - I would try several different stores, and wouldn't let the store clerk keep my ticket even if I didn't win anything. I would probably call the lottery people just to make sure. You can't trust anyone any more.

[Aaliyyah]

^You are right the lady who won the lottery ticket was careless on her part.But, it still does not justify what he did.