SALEM — Scratch-off lottery tickets are supposed to give instant results, but the truth took a couple of days to catch up with one of Salem's luckiest guys.
Dione Ferreira was under orders from his girlfriend to buy a Jackie Chan movie from the 7-Eleven late last night when clerk Subaan Gul told him there was something different about the winning $10 ticket he'd turned in late Wednesday. Gul told Ferreira to return with his girlfriend, Pamela Soares, before he'd say what was going on: They'd actually won $10,000.
Last night's revelation solved the mystery for Ferreira and Soares, but 7-Eleven employees and the state lottery commission had been looking for them for several days, studying surveillance camera footage.
In somewhat broken English interspersed with laughter, Gul recounted the experience: "Under the dollar sign, he scratch off just '10,' not three zeroes," he said to laughs. "Now, you scratch all off!"
This was the second time Ferreira has benefited from financial honesty. He once lost his wallet, with $500 inside, in Boston, only to have a woman return it to him full. (He gave her a $100 reward.) Lottery commission employees will evaluate the claim in the coming days to see who benefits from this week's sale.
Gul was aghast at lottery officials' questions about why he'd put the winning ticket in his pocket later, when he'd had a chance to scan in the ticket and discovered it was worth far more than $10.
"For safety, I put in my pocket. That's my honesty. Why that question?" said Gul, a Pakistani man who said his Muslim religion requires him to be honest.
The six-year employee drew praise from store owner Amjad Chaudhry.
"The clerk was the only guy who knew it was a $10,000 lottery ticket," Chaudhry said. "He could have easily pocketed the ticket, not called me, and I would have never known about it. He's an honest guy. He didn't want anybody's money."
Ferreira and Soares, both originally from Brazil, said last night they hadn't had time to think about what they'd do with the winnings. First, they had to watch Jackie Chan's "The Forbidden Kingdom," the $9.99 film that united them with word of their $10,000 win.
Ferreira said he's bought about 10 movies from the store, but only three lottery tickets.
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