Every year there are several cases of lottery winners who fail to claim their jackpot, and there are plenty of explanations for why they can’t meet the deadline. For the first time in the history of the lottery, a mysterious player who presents a winning ticket chooses to walk away from the jackpot. A New York lawyer refused to explain lottery officials how he acquired the winning ticket, even when he was declined the prize. The authorities are still on the hunt for the real winner, as they suspect a crime was committed.
Lawyer withdrawals winning lottery claim
There are many things that simply don’t add up, and one of the issues that caught investigators’ attention was the fact that the lawyer chose to claim his prize two hours before it would have expired. The bizarre turn of events kept lottery players nationwide wired, and the mystery is still fascinating Iowans and players from the neighboring states. It all began on December 29, 2011, when Crawford Shaw claimed the jackpot only to withdraw the claim one week later.
Lottery officials were surprised by the alleged winner’s decisions to wait until the last possible minute, and asked for some clarifications. Since this is not a normal case and there are many aspects that indicate a possible fraud, lottery CEO Terry Rich involved the authorities. They are diligently working and trying to connect the dots, but so far they haven’t been successful and the lottery jackpot was caught in limbo.
No progress made in more than one year
In similar cases, the authorities are working closely with the media, and whenever video surveillance is available, they present it to a broad audience. In this particular case they have refrained from using the same method, because there is a real risk of a flurry of false claims to erupt. While they are still committed to finding the real winner and expose Crawford Shaw if he has committed a criminal act, the officials are reluctant to show all their cards. The lawyer is relentless and he claims that as far as he’s concerned, the whole story is done and he intends to offer no more clarifications.
One year ago, he claimed to be the representative of the Hexham Investments Trust and shipped the ticket to a local law firm, asking them to represent him. Since this is not the traditional way of claiming jackpots, and the claim was made only a couple of hours before the deadline, it makes perfect sense for lottery officials to react with disbelief. Things get even muddier, because the alleged winner said that the money was heading to Belize, which is a country that is widely regarded as a tax haven.
Check out the Lucky couple wins lottery jackpot for the second time as well.
About Jeremy Rapaport
Okay, my name is Jeremy and you can find me on Google+. I`m here to write about the lottery. You may ask, why lottery? Everything is simple – life is the lottery! It`s a pretty interesting stuff to write about. Some people win, some people lose, but no one loses the hope. Here you can find everything you wanted to know about the lottery. Almost all world’s lotteries are gathered in one place. So, join us and let`s try our luck together!
