A thief stole and sold five books of tickets for Rotary Central’s $40,000 annual draw.
Anyone who bought any of the 50 tickets, numbered from 01451 to 01500, is being asked to contact police and raffle organisers to return them and be issued a replacement.
All those tickets, which cost $25 each, will be invalid for the raffle, organisers warned.
A 59-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the theft.
Steve Tippetts, president of Rotary Central, said the show would go on and the winner of the cash prize will be announced at Saturday’s event, being held at Salty’s in Red Bay.
He urged anyone who had bought tickets that turned out to be stolen to urgently contact Marzeta Bodden at [email protected] to get a replacement. The police are also asking for those tickets to be turned in to aid their investigation.
The event is Rotary Central’s biggest fundraiser of the year.
Bodden, vice president with responsibility for fundraising, said the club has been working with police to ensure that everyone who bought an impacted ticket gets a replacement and a chance to be in Saturday’s draw.
“In this particular instance, one of our trusted sellers, who’s been with us for many years, had someone close to them acquire the tickets inappropriately and unofficially, and they were selling those tickets to people in the community.
“What we’ve done is we’ve asked the RCIPS to support us in contacting the purchasers of those tickets,” she said, adding that once the club gets those tickers, valid new ones will be provided.
The event, in its 30th year, is critical to supporting the work of Rotary Central, from bus shelters to a science fair in the coming year, Bodden said.
“In this case our protocols worked. Everything is fine with the raffle and we are looking forward to a wonderful evening.”
A Royal Cayman Islands Police Service press release on the theft stated that five books of tickets were stolen on Tuesday. An arrest was made the following day.
Police are asking anyone who bought the impacted tickets to return them to George Town Police Station or call 949-4222 to make arrangements to do so.
“Rotary Central has also advised that they will not be validating the tickets in question, if sold by the suspect, due to the circumstances of the sale and the current police investigation,” police said in the release.
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