Rarely do state officials find themselves in the deposition hot seat, given the sovereign immunity that states enjoy from litigation. But the legal case of Texas Mega Millions Lottery winner Willis Willis is far from typical. Back in 2009, Willis bought a winning $1 million Texas Lottery ticket. Yet when he approached Texas Lottery agent and convenience store clerk Pankaj Joshi to check his numbers, Joshi lied, telling him that he didn’t win. The clerk then drove to the lottery’s headquarters in Austin and claimed Willis’ prize.

It’s been an uphill legal slog for Willis since then, but he’s scored a recent win, in which a Travis County judge has ordered lottery officials to answer key questions under oath regarding lottery fraud in Texas. “This is an important ruling because the success of the Texas Lottery hinges on the public’s confidence in the integrity of these games,” says Sean Breen of Austin-based Howry Breen & Herman. “The lottery so far has refused to acknowledge its role in this and other thefts by store clerks, and it’s about time they provide some answers to these questions.”

The situation of Willis might to seem unique, but as Dateline NBC reports, clerks in California and New York have also been caught pocketing prizes intended for lottery winners.