Clerk accused of stealing lottery ticket, fleeing country

A 25-year-old convenience store clerk in Texas has been accused of cashing a customer's $1 million winning lottery ticket and fleeing the country, authorities say.

Pankaj Joshi, a student at the University of Texas at Arlington and native of Nepal, was indicted last month on one count of claiming a lottery prize by fraud, the Associated Press reports. Investigators said they believe the man claimed the Mega Millions ticket after a 67-year-old customer, Willis Willis, asked him to check whether his ticket was a winner.

Authorities say Joshi claimed a $750,000 prize after taxes, wired the money to a bank account, and disappeared at the end of July. Police have seized more than $365,000 in Joshi's bank accounts.

Austin's supervisory deputy U.S. marshal, Hector Gomez, told the Star Telegram, "It's fair to say he's been running since July 29. It's early in the investigation and we are still developing information about his relatives, family and the places where he likes to hang out." Police believe he may be in Nepal or elsewhere in South Asia.

A second degree felony, the fraud charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. Bail has been set at $10 million on the warrant.