Mass. Man Sentenced for Stealing from RI Lottery

A 47-year-old Massachusetts man on Monday was sentenced for embezzling more than $5,000 from the Rhode Island Lottery.

Paul Mahfouz, of 215 Judson St., Raynham, Mass., was sentenced by Superior Court Justice Luis M. Matos to five years in prison, six months to serve.

The remainder of Mahfouz’s sentence will be suspended with probation and he was ordered to pay $36,064.20 in restitution for the embezzlement and an unrelated incident during which he took $31,000 from a man he promised to sell a state inspection machine but never delivered.

Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin said in a release that Mahfouz was the owner of the Elmwood Shell station on Elmwood Avenue in Providence and took money held in trust for the lottery as a retail agent and used it for his own purposes.

He also took the $31,000 from a man identified as Elie Antoun for the state motor vehicle inspection machine that was never delivered.

The embezzlement case was initially investigated by the Rhode Island Lottery Commission. The other crime involving the theft of $31,000 was investigated by Rhode Island State Police Trooper Amy Jackman.

The Rhode Island Lottery Commission is headquartered in Cranston.

Special Assistant Attorneys General Carole L. McLaughlin and Ryan Stys prosecuted the case on behalf of the Office of Attorney General.

Judge Matos granted a stay of execution and the defendant is to surrender himself for execution of sentence on July 13, 2015 at Providence Superior Court.