A California woman has been arrested for her part in what police describe as a lottery ticket scam.
Police in Maryland’s Montgomery County say 54-year-old Daisy Castillo Badillo, of Los Angeles, California, worked with two others to steal nearly $14,000 from a local woman.
In April, police said the scam victim was sitting inside of her car, parked near a strip mall in the 1900 block of Veirs Mill Road in Rockville, when one of the suspects came up to her and said he had a winning lottery ticket, but did not want to claim it because of his alleged illegal immigration status.
Police said Badillo then approached the woman and the first suspect, offering to help them claim the ticket.
Badillo and the man then contacted the third suspect, who posed as an employee for a lottery company and told them that they had to pay money to claim the lottery prize, police said.
Police said the woman agreed to claim the lottery ticket for the suspects, with the intention of getting her money reimbursed and receiving additional money from the winning lottery ticket.
She then drove with the suspects to two separate Bank of America locations, where she withdrew $13,500 total, which she handed over to the suspects.
Police said the two suspects then contacted the person posing as a lottery employee to inform him that they collected the money required to claim the lottery prize.
That’s when police said the suspect on the phone informed the woman that, in order to claim the prize, she needed to provide three bills to confirm her finances and identity.
She then drove home with the other two suspects, and got out of her car to retrieve the bills from inside the home. But, police said, when she came out, the suspects had already left with the woman’s money.
The suspects were driving a black Mitsubishi SUV.
The woman called police who came to her home to investigate the robbery.
Detectives were able to lift multiple fingerprints from the woman’s car, where Badillo was sitting.
In July, police got a hit on the fingerprints from the police database, which led them to identify Badillo. The victim later positively identified Badillo as one of the suspects who scammed her via a photo.
Badillo has been charged with theft by deception, and other related charges.
She was arrested by Los Angeles Police at her home. Police said they have identified or identified the two other suspects.
On Tuesday, Badillo was extradited to jail in Montgomery County. She’s since been released on bond.
Police believe there may be other victims of the lottery scam, and are encouraging anyone who may have been robbed to contact them anonymously at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
