Becoming a millionaire can bring big headaches. The winner of the biggest jackpot in US lottery history has already started going up against a few.
The California Lottery announced the winner of the historic Powerball jackpot on February 14.
Edwin Castro was the lucky new millionaire who won over $2 billion after matching all six numbers: 10, 33, 41, 47, 56 and the Powerball, 10.
Although he did not show up for the press conference, Castro sent a statement in which he enthusiastically accepted the lump sum of $997.6 million.
However, soon after a week, the winner faces a lawsuit for alleged ticket theft.
According to legal documents obtained by Telemundo 52, José Rivera claims he was the one who bought the lottery ticket at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California on November 7, the day before the big $2.04 billion Powerball draw. dollars.
In the 13-page document, Rivera claims a man named Reggie “stole” his ticket earlier in the day. He also claims that Reggie told him that if he found the ticket, he would give him half the price.
But, Rivera alleges in the lawsuit that he ‘refused to be blackmailed’ and filed a theft complaint with the California Lottery asking that the alleged theft be investigated before awarding the prize. .
The lawsuit was filed against the California Lottery, “Reggie” and Edwin Castro, and seeks to have Rivera declared the jackpot winner.
However, the winner has already been announced by the California Lottery, although so far it is unclear if Castro has claimed the prize yet.
Carolyn Becker, spokeswoman for the California Lottery, sent a statement saying:
“The California Lottery is not authorized to investigate the criminal activities of its players; such complaints are only investigated by local police. In the event that a local law enforcement agency investigates such allegations, the Lottery’s sole role is to assist by answering questions and/or providing evidence to the extent permitted by law. law.”
Bucker further stated that “when it comes to the process of verifying major winners, the California Lottery has the utmost confidence in their process for doing so. The California Lottery remains confident that Edwin Castro is the rightful winner of the $2 billion prize derived from the November 2022 Powerball draw.”
The lottery winner has already begun to face problems, which in other historical cases have ended in tragedies.