Santa Ana liquor store clerk arrested in Scratchers lottery tickets scam

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- A liquor store clerk was arrested in Santa Ana Tuesday for illegally redeeming winning lottery tickets and re-selling losing tickets to customers.

The clerk, Newport Beach resident Francis Bou Karam, 34, is accused of scratching a small portion of California State Lottery Scratchers tickets he had not purchased in order to determine which tickets were winners. He redeemed the winning tickets in the amount of $50,000.

Baram allegedly sold the losing tickets to unsuspecting customers at Craig Liquor in Santa Ana.

Baram is accused of defrauding the California State Lottery and those customers in the amount of $100,000, the combined retail value of the winning and losing tickets, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said.

The California State Lottery began investigating Craig Liquor after monitoring suspicious redemption activity from the store.

Baram was arrested Tuesday and charged with one felony count of grand theft, one felony count of computer access fraud and 23 counts of forgery, with sentencing enhancements for aggravated white collar crime over $100,000 and loss over $65,000.

If convicted, Karam faces a maximum sentence of 18 years and four months in state prison.

Karam was being held on $150,000 bail, and must prove that the money is from a legal and legitimate source before posting bond. Karam was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, Dec. 1.