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Hispanic woman kidnapped and robbed of $9,000 in New Jersey lottery scam

An unknown man asked the victim to help him cash a lottery ticket he had allegedly won

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July 17, 2023 9:28am

Updated: July 18, 2023 7:32am

A Hispanic woman in New Jersey was the victim of kidnapping and robbery in early July after two men allegedly drugged her and forced her to withdraw $9,000 from her New Jersey bank.

The woman, who did not disclose her identity, told Univision 41 how she became a victim of the new modus operandi in the city of Newark on July 3.

She had $9,000 saved for her cosmetics business, but she lost all of her savings.

"I was on my way home when I met an elderly man who said to me, 'Please help me cash out, I won the lottery. Subsequently, the man took a blue envelope out of his pocket and put it on her face,” she said. 

“As the first guy continued to plead with her to accompany him to collect his supposed lottery ticket, a second man appeared and said, "Let's take this poor man to collect his lottery," she continued. 

The victim said that she began to lose consciousness little by little, but remembers that the three of them began to walk as if they were friends.

The subjects took the woman to a van and then guided her to the bank, where they asked her to withdraw $9,000.

The Hispanic woman entered the bank like any other customer and requested to withdraw her funds. When asked by Univision why she did not try to flee, the woman responded that the substance that was put on her face was "controlled."

"I went into the bank, but I couldn't scream. I was drugged," the victim claimed.

Newark police are investigating the case and asked the community to reach out to the agency if anyone has been the victim of a similar scheme. 

Fast-File Reporter

Marielbis Rojas

Marielbis Rojas is a Venezuelan journalist and communications professional with a degree in Social Communication from UCAB. She is a news reporter for ADN America.