Counterfeit Lotto 'Winner' Nabbed 23 Years Later

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 2 February 2020)

//Ed. Note: TNT has covered lotto 'winners' in Turkey over
the years. Their lives seem to get all the more interesting 
after they 'win'.  Herewith, some examples: 

lotto 'winner'

lotto 'sinner'

another fake 'winner'


In any event, he had "23 years of fun and music and nothing
but fun and music!"


In December 1996, Lokman Gümüş Pala bought a lotto ticket in
Gazimağusa city of  theTurkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
for the New Years drawing in Turkey.  The winning ticket number was
7937301 and Pala's ticket number was off by one - 7937381.

So Pala cut out a zero from another ticket and replaced the offending
"8" from his own, creating a 'winning' ticket (!).   Declaring that "I won
50 million liras!", Pala went to the shop where he had bought the
ticket.  Lottery officials didn't notice the number alteration (!) and
paid Pala his 12.5 million liras-share vis-a-vis the winning number.

(Understandably!) Pala quickly disappeared and lived a secret life
in the TRNC for 23 years, until he was nabbed at Lefkoşa (Nicosia)
Ercan airport the day before yesterday.  After being arrested, Pala
explained that he was taking his son to Turkey for medical treatment.
He added that "because of the investigation, my TRNC citizenship
was voided.  But if I'm guilty why has it taken until now to arrest me?"