Lotto Winner Gets Almost-Stolen Money

So just how does the guy who nearly had his $6.8 million Virginia Lotto jackpot stolen from him feel about being the victim of such a crime?

Not too surprised.

"That kind of money can make even your family turn against you," said Rae Bernard, of Greenbelt, who yesterday picked up the first installment of his winnings, which an Arlington bar owner had tried to claim in May.

Bernard was handed the $231,074 check eight days after Jaspaul Narang, owner of Royal Lee Bar & Grill, pleaded guilty to grand larceny for stealing the winning May 10 lottery ticket that he had sold to Bernard.

Bernard, who works for a computer firm he would not name, was a regular at the neighborhood bar, buying the same numbers every week. When checking if he'd won, he placed a great deal of trust in Narang.

"When I come in, I play my regular numbers, then I give [Narang] the old ones to check," Bernard said. "Whatever he tells me, I move on. That day, he did the same thing, except he took one" and told Bernard he'd won a free lottery ticket.

Bernard became suspicious only later, when a sign went up outside the Royal Lee declaring that some lucky -- and so far unknown -- customer there had won the $6.8 million jackpot.

"I saw the sign out there, and I just wanted to see what the numbers were," Bernard said.

Bernard filed a complaint with the Virginia Lottery on May 19. The agency's computer system showed that the winning number had been run through Narang's machine the day Bernard first asked about his ticket. Narang later claimed he'd found the ticket on the floor and tried to collect.

Bernard said he was always confident he would get the money.

"The evidence was clear-cut," Bernard said. "The system worked."

So what now?

"I am going to invest it and live on the interest," said Bernard, who has remained secretive about his personal life other than to say he has a family and "is old enough to play the lottery."

It did come as a relief, though, to finally get a check, the first of 19 installments. Yesterday's $231,074 was after taxes; the rest will be for $233,240 after taxes.

"I can get up and do what ever I feel like," he said, declining to say whether he plans to quit his job. "I can control my own destiny."

Narang's future isn't as bright.

On Oct. 24, he will be sentenced, facing up to 20 years in prison.