A man at a lottery store scratched 158 scratch-off tickets to avoid paying and was sentenced to seven months in prison.

Due to a momentary greed, Zhang opened 158 “Scratch Cards” at a lottery shop and tried to skip out without paying, but instead of fulfilling his “big prize” dream, he ended up in jail. Recently, the Yuzhou City Procuratorate in Henan Province filed a public prosecution, and the court sentenced the defendant Zhang to seven months in prison and a fine of 4,000 yuan for theft.

One day in October 2025, Zhang received a 20-yuan voucher on an official sports lottery app. He took the voucher to a lottery shop in Yuzhou City to exchange it, but his attention was caught by the “Scratch Cards” (a type of instant-win lottery) behind the counter. Zhang did not stop at simply exchanging for a small free lottery ticket, but instead aimed to get rich overnight through a “zero-cost, big-win” approach.

Since instant-win lottery tickets require scratching to determine the prize amount, shops usually allow customers to scratch first and then pay the difference based on the actual winnings or pay separately. Based on this common practice, Zhang asked the shop owner to take down 158 “Scratch Cards” of different denominations without paying immediately, and scratched them inside the shop. However, his dream of hitting a big prize was quickly shattered. After scratching all 158 tickets, he did not win the large jackpot he imagined; the total winnings amounted to only 2,030 yuan, while the face value of the tickets was 5,660 yuan, meaning Zhang still owed 3,630 yuan. To avoid paying this amount, Zhang took advantage of the shop owner’s momentary distraction to discard the scratched tickets inside the shop and pretended to take a phone call, then hurriedly fled the scene. The shop owner discovered the loss, counted the damage, and immediately reported to the police. Zhang was quickly apprehended by the authorities.

In January of this year, the public security authorities transferred the case to the Yuzhou City Procuratorate for review and prosecution. During the review process, the procuratorate believed that when the shop owner delivered the tickets, he was aware that Zhang was there to scratch the tickets and knew that, according to the transaction habit, Zhang should pay the difference after scratching. Therefore, the shop owner’s purpose in delivering the tickets was to complete the transaction and collect payment, not a gratuitous gift or waiver of payment. His act of delivery was based on genuine business intent, not deception. Zhang’s act of taking and scratching the tickets constituted an illegal transfer and disposal of others’ property. Since lottery tickets are unregistered, non-replaceable valuable payment instruments, and Zhang had the intent to illegally possess, using peaceful means to steal the property rights of the victim, his behavior was suspected of theft and should be criminally prosecuted. After the Yuzhou City Procuratorate filed a public prosecution, the court held a trial, adopted the prosecution’s sentencing recommendation, and issued the aforementioned judgment.

(Procurement Daily)

Source: China News Weekly