Lottery Scam Could Put Burlington County Man In Prison: Feds

BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ — A Burlington County man will face prison time for a multimillion-dollar scheme that included fee collection for phony lottery winnings, authorities said. Pablo Estrada will face up to a decade in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering Wednesday in Camden federal court.

From August 2020 through last January, Estrada received money from various scams, including a lottery scam, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office of New Jersey. The ploy begins with victims getting notified that they won large sums of money in a lottery but are required to pay various fees before receiving their winnings.

Estrada, 26, of Florence, deposited the money into various bank accounts that he maintained for purposes of receiving criminal proceeds, officials said. He transferred the funds to other bank accounts and kept a percentage for himself, laundering more than $4 million, according to court documents.

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 19. The money laundering offense carries up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross profits or loss — whichever is greatest.

New Jersey Lottery lists several warning signs for scams:

• The NJ Lottery does not know who the winners are until they come forward with a winning ticket. Players with a winning ticket reach out to them — not the other way around.
• The NJ Lottery never requires monetary payment to claim a prize.
• No one should ever send any money to pay a "processing fee" or any other requested fee for claiming a prize.
• Never deposit any check sent to you that is accompanied by a request that you send or wire money to cover processing or claiming fees. The check that you've received is fraudulent and will bounce.
• Never provide any personal or financial information to a scammer, especially Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, and credit card numbers.