http://www.star-telegram.com/local/story/1973913.html

Willis Willis will finally get some of his $1 million lottery jackpot.

On Tuesday, state District Judge Bob Perkins signed an order restoring to the Grand Prairie man $395,000 seized from the bank account of a store clerk accused of stealing the winning ticket.

"I feel pretty good, a bit relieved," said Willis, 67, shortly after the hearing in Austin. "I'm glad we finally made it to this point."

Willis said he planned to spend part of the money on medical bills and a daughter's college tuition.

"It's all stuff that has to be paid for," he said. "Things I really needed the money to take care of."

About $365,000 of the cash restored to Willis was seized by Travis County prosecutors from bank accounts opened by the store clerk, Pankaj Joshi. The other $30,000 was recovered from people in Dallas to whom Joshi had given money.

Authorities believe Joshi took the ticket from Willis, told him it was not a winner and cashed the ticket himself. He then returned to his native Nepal.

The Nepalese government has frozen an additional bank account connected to Joshi there, said Patty Robertson, a Travis County assistant district attorney. Sean Breen, Willis' Austin-based attorney, said the account is believed to hold around $300,000.

Prosecutors are working with the U.S. State Department to return to the money to Travis County. However, because a foreign government is involved, the process is complicated, Robertson said.

"I really don't have a timetable on when, or if, that will happen," she said.

About $50,000 of the winnings probably won't be recovered because Joshi withdrew it in cash, Breen said.

Joshi, 25, who was a student at the University of Texas at Arlington, is charged in Travis County with fraud and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. His bond is set at $10 million.

Authorities have gone to great lengths to locate him. Robertson said. They have contacted his parents and notified the Nepal Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Newspapers in Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital, have reported extensively on the case, she added.

Breen said he will continue to try to force the Texas Lottery Commission to award Willis the rest of the jackpot. Lottery officials have refused, saying they consider Joshi the winner because he signed and redeemed the ticket.

After Tuesday's ruling, Breen said he wondered how the commission could still deny that Willis was the winner.

"The judge looked at the evidence and determined it was obvious Mr. Willis was the winner," he said.

Willis bought the winning ticket May 29 at the Lucky Food Store at 902 Great Southwest Parkway in Grand Prairie, authorities said. He returned there May 31 to have the Mega Millions ticket and others scanned to see whether they were winners.

The Mega Millions ticket was a winner, but Joshi, who scanned it, gave Willis only $2 for a Cash 5 ticket, authorities said.

i was suprised to see the news in the yahoo headline. I am just spellbound. God help pankaj joshi.

ultimately Joshi will pay what he did but I feel really bad for his family back home.

Pankaj is a crook. Why should God help him regardless of where the news appears?

,

Pankaj is a good person who did a bad thing...i just wish he had not done it, let his greed get the best of him ...a bit too late for that but over all he is a good boy who happened to make a fked up choice in that split second when he lied and is now paying for what he did. I don't fking care about Pankaj and i do think he deserves to be punished...but i feel bad for his family members and friends who have to go through this SHIT, partly should be blamed on media and mostly on Pankaj himself, because of the fked up choice he made. what u reap is what you sow.

Most crooks are good boys who do bad things.

So did they ever catch this crook?

newlynew how many crooks do you happen to know?

almost everybody in nepal are crooks. people working in nepali offices are crook. Police and army are crooks as well. Politicians are the real crook, the real undefeated once. People working in businesses are crooks as well, just an example is food adulterations, oil in the petroleum, etc etc. People working in organizations and in foreign projects are crook as well where they builds million dollars house with a annual salary of 4-5 thousand US dollars. Taking about crooks. look in the mirror first. If you are smart enouh not to be caught by any agencies then you are successful. If you are dumb like mr joshi, then you are a devil. I dont mean panakj could bea nice guy but let the agencies handle it. Let him live his life.

Guys stop stealing money from gas station you will get caught that is all I have to say

Let's not get carried away here. The guy is wanted by the authorities for stealing someone's million bucks. What's wrong with calling him a crook? Maybe I should used the term "alleged".

i agree he did shoot his own foot, you can call him what you want to, but that does not mean one should over look the good person he is/was. i do agree he fked up pretty bad, that in no way was his action justifiable.

Lurey
People like you makes us so proud, which transcends into the fabrics of our value system, the significance of supporting our loved one, no matter what. Bravo. It is obvious that you know him. If only people could understand the difference between the casual expression of "fked up" and "crime", we (as a nation) would never have the problem of favoritism, nepotism and corruption that are the sole reasons of our demise.
Thanks for being a true "educated" Nepali.

As far as I know, He seems like a victim.... had he stayed in US, he would have easily won the case.... Its the Fking Indian owner who notified the Lottery Commision that it was a fraud after Pankaj had left US..... I heard that the Indian Ahole wanted a share of the winnings, and Pankaj denied it.... Well, he was in Nepal when the case opened.... Why would he come back?..... Within weeks he was sentenced 20yrs in prison......... There was no video evidence..... The guy brought a lottery slip as proof...... This whole case is Bshit....... There are dozens of cases where people have found winning tickets in the trash or streets...... Nobody is questioning them.....

Pankaj should have stayed and fought his case in court. He would have won. Anyway Good Luck. 

yea i agree, he should hv stayed and fought...but i still don't blame him..
he made the decision in split second...
that nigga should be blamed too...
money is money.. sabai paisa kamaunai ta baseko ho...sabai ma greed huncha
its easy to post good lines in sajha dudes
i know hundreds of dudes workin who hardly pay the actual winning to the customer...offcourse if the customer is dumbass like that nigga

Shame on you all who support pankaj joshi.  Yaha sansar bhar Nepali ko tyatro baijjat bhai sakyo.  Narmaro kaam lai naramro bhanna saknu parcha.


And i don't know how pankaj would have won the case had he been in US.  If anybody sees the ticket they can exactly find out when and where the ticket was bought from. The fact that he had done bad made him run away. Why should we support anybody and say he should have fought in court when he has done bad.

Rewire: I applaud your views in terms of why we are the way we are today - absolutely screwed up as a nation.

Looking at the majority views here, I am not surprised either that corruption, favoritism etc. are now built so deep into our value system that we would probably need 2.8 karod individual exorcism to eradicate it. I am extremely shocked and simultaneously very very sad to see the support for that thug in this site. I thought education was the key to build our naiton. But looking at these educated fools, I am not sure any longer what we need.

Yes, I agree all humans are greedy in their own way. But if you let that greed invade someone else's fortunes, then you are a low life like Pankaz... I would say exactly the same even if this fool was my own brother/best friend.

Shame on you no_quiero. Saley tero beijat kasle garyo. Talai laj lagdaina afai lai Nepali bhanna.... Afno daju bhai lai support gardainas bhane ta k ko Nepali.........

Galat lai galat bhannu parcha, ma manchu.... Tara proof ka cha..... Talai tha cha detail..... Ma Texas Basi hun.... Ra talai bhanda ali badi tha cha yo case ko barey ma...... Ticket herera din ra time tha huncha..... manche kasari tha huncha....... 2 weeks pachi sab video delete huncha gas station ma bhanni tha chaina..... Ki receit hunu paryo tei time ma afule kineko....... Plus, tesle ticket harako ho ki, k ho kaslai tha ta...... saley afno ticket ko numbers check garna ni alchi manne tyo saley le kina deserve garcha jitekai bhaye pani....... Plus, $600 bhanda badi jitna sath, music bajcha lottery machine bata...... Tyo pani sunena ta tyo bahiro le.........  

Tero hisab le ta, jasle lottery ma jite pani, time ra date ani location herera receit magera duniya garnu parcha hola haina TxLottery commison le......... Her Sathi, Lottery claim garne le afno name ra adress ticket pachadi lekheko cha, bhane tesle pauncha..... Kasai ko choreko bhaye, jasko choreko ho usle po complain garnu paryo....... Tyo Indian Sau le kun adhar ma complain file garyo..... Lottery Commision le kun adhar ma action liyo....... Bichara lai Punishment sunai sakyo pachi, balla ayera ek jana le mero ticket ho bhancha........ Tyo ticket owner ko bina yo sabai case kasari chalyo.......

Injustice ho sathi........ Bichara Nepali bhayera phasyo..... Tyo Fking Indian Sau le bina siti complain na gareko bhaye kehi hudaina thiyo....... Nepali na bhayera, khaire ya madisey bhako bhaye complain ni gardaina thiyo hola saley le.........

Anyways, thats my view.... my full sympathy is towards that guy....... I really feel sorry for him.......