$80,000 Lottery Victor Accused of Theft Must Give Up $60,000
An Anaheim woman charged with embezzling from her former employer must turn over $60,000 of the $80,000 she won in the California Lottery, an Orange County Superior Court commissioner ruled Thursday.
Laura Jean Evans, 26, won $100,000, minus $20,000 for taxes, Monday during the lottery’s televised “Big Spin” show.
Jim Salzer, vice president of Copier Concepts Inc. of Santa Ana, told Commissioner Thomas Keenan he saw his former bookkeeper on the show and sought a court order to have her winnings held until the matter is resolved.
Evans, who was fired five months ago, was arrested in June and charged with embezzling at least $45,000 between December, 1983, and March, 1985. She is awaiting trial.
An investigation by Santa Ana police and the district attorney’s office found that Evans had allegedly been altering and forging signatures on checks and depositing them into her own account.
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