Father and son sentenced to long prison terms for the scam of the century: They used a sophisticated scheme to cheat the lottery, earning more than $20 million.
Ali Džafar (63) and his son Jusef Džafar (29) were convicted of illegally obtaining $20 million from lottery winnings and of lying on tax returns to avoid paying $6 million in taxes.
He was sentenced to five years in prison, while his son received 50 months in prison, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts announced, CNN reports.
They were also ordered to pay more than $6 million in damages and return all the money earned through fraud. In December, they were convicted of defrauding the Tax Administration, money laundering, and filing a false tax return.
„This is a meticulously planned tax fraud case; over decades, a father and son defrauded the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission and the IRS to pocket millions of dollars in taxpayer money,“ Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a press release.
He added that they had worked for years to recruit a wide network to spread their lottery scam across Massachusetts, avoiding detection by lying to officials. Attorney Valerie S. Carter announced that the father and son will appeal the verdict.
Mohamed Dhafar, Yusuf's second son who was also involved in the conspiracy, pleaded guilty to tax fraud last year and will be sentenced in July.
„The Lottery, in cooperation with the police, will undertake major efforts to prevent illegal activities. The decision is the culmination of years of hard work on maintaining the integrity of the lottery, said Deborah B. Goldberg, State Treasurer and Chair of the Lottery Commission.
The indictment states that from 2011 to June 2020, the defendants, in cooperation with other persons, laundered money from Massachusetts State Lottery winnings.
Men were buying winning tickets from people across the country who wanted to sell their ticket for cash instead of claiming the prize.
Namely, upon collecting the prize, they would have to report to the state commission, which is obligated to withhold the amount for unpaid tax and unpaid alimony before paying out the prize.
According to the statement, after purchasing the winning tickets from the actual winners, the lottery sellers would approve the transaction, after which they would claim the money as their own.
The Massachusetts Lottery Commission will revoke the licenses of lottery retailers involved in the fraud, the state attorney general's office announced.
SOURCE: NOVA PHOTO: UNSPLASH
