Clerk arrested in lottery jackpot theft

Paul Davenport

Friday, Aug. 19, 2005 | 9:37 a.m.

PHOENIX -- A convenience-store clerk has been arrested and more than $1 million seized from bank accounts after the clerk allegedly stole a winning Arizona Lottery ticket and claimed the jackpot, authorities said Thursday.

Nogales police on Monday arrested longtime Circle K Stores Inc. employee Delia Kerr, 50, and a sister, Susan Kerr, 41, both of Nogales, on suspicion of fraud and theft, the state attorney general's office said.

The women had allegedly opened a bank account in Tucson with a check for over $1 million from a jackpot for "The Pick" game, the office said.

The office said the money came from a winning ticket which was among a batch of lottery tickets an unidentified man presented to Delia Kerr at a Circle K store in the border community of Nogales to find out whether they were winners.

The man complained to Circle K that Kerr did not return one ticket but a manager was unable to find the missing ticket, the office said.

The ticket was submitted to the lottery on July 17, and Circle K contacted the lottery's investigations unit after hearing rumors about a Circle K clerk claiming a jackpot.

The resulting investigation conducted by the lottery and Nogales police located bank accounts belonging to the sisters, leading to the seizure of more than $1 million by the attorney general's office.

Though the money was seized under forfeiture laws on behalf of the victims, authorities at this point don't know who the man is, said lottery spokeswoman Kevan Kaighn said.

"The state has it (the money) and we're holding it for the person if the person is identified and we'll go from there," said attorney general's spokeswoman Andrea Esquer.

Unclaimed prize money is usually used for prizes and to pay for court-appointed special advocates for children, but Kaighn said she doesn't know what will happen to the money in this case if the unidentified man is not found.

Prize winners have 180 days from an online drawing or the end of a scratcher-ticket game to claim a prize.