A Naples tobacconist has been detained and taken to prison for allegedly stealing a 500,000-euros-winning scratch card that he sold to a 69-year-old female pensioner.
Gaetano Scutellaro, aged 57, was stopped by border police as he tried to embark on a flight to the Canary Islands at Rome's Fiumicino airport at the weekend.
He was not initially arrested, but was subsequently detained by Carabinieri police as he drove back to Naples.
He is accused of aggravated theft and attempted extortion as it is suspected that he may have tried to get money from the card's authentic owner to return it.
The authorities have suspended the scratch card, meaning it cannot be cashed in, while investigators establish what happened.
Police tracked down the winning card in a bank in Latina, a city between Naples and Rome.
The tobacconist has said that the card is his and the woman is lying.
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