Woman gets to cash in stolen 500,000-euro scratch card

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 23 - A 69-year-old Naples woman who had a 500,000-euro-winning scratch card stolen from her by the tobacconist who sold it to her has finally been able to cash it in, Italy's Customs and Monopolies Agency has said.
    The tobacconist, Gaetano Scutellaro, aged 57, has repented and apologised, his lawyer said earlier this month.
    Scutellaro was stopped by border police as he tried to embark on a flight to the Canary Islands at Rome's Fiumicino airport after stealing the card and subsequently detained by Carabinieri police as he drove back to Naples.
    Police tracked down the winning card in a bank in Latina, a city between Naples and Rome.
    Scutellaro is accused of aggravated theft and attempted extortion as it is suspected that he may have tried to get money from the card's authentic owner to return it.
    The tobacconist had initially said that the card was his and the woman was lying. (ANSA).