For those of you who enjoy playing the lottery, here’s a story that should help put your odds of winning in perspective.

Last December, painter Shigeru Aikoh was arrested from robbing a Kushikatsu (deep fried snacks) restaurant in Settsu, Osaka.  However, prefectural police later discovered he was a part of a four man group responsible for a year-long crime spree around the prefecture totaling 4.5 million yen (US$572,000).

However, much to Aikoh’s dismay a fair chunk of that loot had turned out to be totally worthless.

According to charges filed by the Osaka Prefectural Police, Aikoh and 3 other men committed a series of robberies from April of last year to March of this year.  In total 208 break-ins of tobacco shops, orthopedic clinics, and lotto shacks among others were connected to this group.

According to a statement from Aikoh, “We must have stolen hundreds of scratch and win tickets, and we hardly won a damn thing!”  Apparently he was being modest as according to the police investigation the number of tickets stolen reached well into the thousands.

The police having concluded their lengthy investigation on 5 October submitted it to prosecutors who should have no problem putting these prolific prowlers in the pen.  However, the real moral of this story is that even by stealing thousands of tickets from a lotto hut, you’re still likely to end up with bupkis.

Source: Nikkan Sports (Japanese)