If you run a convenience store, and someone purchases a winning scratch-off lottery ticket worth $5 million, and you decide that you want to steal it, it seems downright greedy, even in the context of a ripoff, to do this:

[Store employee] Andy Ashkar told the buyer at the time that it was only a $5,000 winner and, after pocketing $1,000 as a "fee," gave the man $4,000

Even while offering the poor unsuspecting victim only 1/1000 of the value of his ticket, you still had to take a 20% fee. That is just blatantly fucking with karma.

Also, when you and your accomplice go in to redeem your stolen winning $5 million lottery ticket, do not tell the lottery officials that you "would be happy to take home less than the full amount if they could avoid a news conference." That's just dumb.

Only investment bankers are allowed to operate at this level of karmic violence and get away with it.

[NYT. Photo: Terry Ross/ Flickr]