The owner of a Fields Corner convenience store was arrested last week and charged with allegedly bribing a state Lottery official in a scheme to cash in $5,600 worth of winning tickets that did not belong to him.

Information sent from Attorney General Maura Healey’s office said that the defendant— Tuan Tquan, aka Tommy Tran, 59, was arraigned on May 26 in Dorchester District Court on one count of Illegal Gift to a Public Employee. Tquan, who owns Smoke Shop and More next to the US post office, pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance “with the conditions that he stay away and have no contact with lottery investigators and surrender his passport.”

The complaint by Healey’s office alleges that Tquan offered a Lottery official $500 to persuade him to pay out the winnings after Lottery agents initially refused to cash them out. “Tquan was observed handing the Lottery official $500 and walking away with the phony prize money he received in return. He was then arrested by State Police,” the statement said.

“We allege this convenience store owner tried to cheat the system to get thousands of dollars in illegal lottery winnings,” Healey said in the statement sent to the Reporter. “As a lottery sales agent, this defendant should be helping protect the integrity of the Lottery, not undermining it. We are thankful to our investigative partners for the quick collaborative work to put an end to this illegal scam.” Tquan is due back in court on July 20 for a pretrial hearing.

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Transit Police have arrested four teens for a pair of knifepoint robbery attempts that turned into beatings at Shawmut Station on the Red Line on May 23. T police say they arrested three teens in Harambee Park in Dorchester around 1:30 p.m. on May 27. All were either 14 or 15, so too young to have their names released. Police had earlier arrested a 15-year-old for his alleged role in the attack near the station’s Blue bikes rack.
Transit Police say their investigation is continuing.