I feel sorry for cheat, says scam victim

Lottery winners Fred and Maureen Holt.

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A GREAT-GRAN from Watersheddings says she feels sorry for a shop worker — nicknamed Lucky — who tried to cheat her out of £1 million in Lottery winnings.

“I thought he was a nice young man, said mum of seven Maureen Holt ( 77). “He knew me and my husband by name. He would ask after my daughter.”

But when Mrs Holt presented her winning ticket to Farrakh Nizzar and asked him to check it, he told her it was worthless.

He later made a bungled attempt to claim the £1 million prize for himself.

The scam backfired when he said he bought the winning ticket at the Best-One convenience store, Watersheddings Street, where he worked. Mrs Holt had bought it at Tesco Extra in Huddersfield Road.

Nizzar of Woodlands Road, Crumpsall, admitted fraud to Oldham magistrates. He will be sentenced in Manchester on August 20.

Mrs Holt said: “I still feel sorry for him that he’s done it. Everyone calls him Lucky but he wasn’t very lucky this time.”

She said: “I just can’t believe he did this, but at least he got caught. This money will mean my husband can finally give up work and we can enjoy our retirement.”

Nizzar went on the run when he realised he had been rumbled by Camelot’s checks. He was arrested by police in Chadderton.

Lottery bosses traced Maureen because she had used her Tesco Clubcard when she bought the ticket. CCTV footage confirmed her purchase.

Brothers Mohammed Yasin (42) and Musood Ahmed (29) run the Best-One shop where Lottery cheat Farrakh Nizzar worked.

Mr Ahmed said: ““We’re just shocked at what he has done. I feel absolutely gutted. Especially because it’s happened to Fred and Maureen -— we’ve known them for years. They are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.”








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