Posted on 12/30/2011 6:39:53 PM PST by Orange1998
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Lottery officials had more questions than answers Friday as they tried to unravel the stunning mystery behind a year-old winning ticket turned in less than two hours before Thursday's deadline for a jackpot worth up to $14.3 million.
Among the questions: Who actually bought the Hot Lotto ticket? Who are members of the trust that stepped forward to claim the prize less than two hours before it expired? Where was the ticket for 364 days, and why did the trustee risk sending it by FedEx to Des Moines one day before the deadline?
Here's what they know: Two attorneys with Des Moines-based Davis Brown Law Firm showed up at Iowa Lottery headquarters at 2:10 p.m. Thursday with the winning ticket before the 4 p.m. deadline. They represent Hexam Investments Trust, whose trustee is a lawyer and businessman named Crawford Shaw from the wealthy town of Bedford, N.Y. Shaw signed the ticket, which was validated as the winner, on behalf of the trust.
"It's amazing things were cut that close. What if something had gone wrong? What if there had been a snowstorm? It was down to the wire," said Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman for the Lottery, which had installed a countdown clock, repeatedly issued public reminders about the ticket and had been making plans to give away Iowa's portion of the unclaimed jackpot. "We just continue to be thrilled that the ticket that came in does ultimately preserve the winner's ability to claim this prize."
But before they pay a dime, Lottery officials say they will conduct a thorough investigation to make sure the ticket was legally purchased, possessed and presented. They were presented with another wrinkle Friday when they received calls from multiple, unrelated people claiming the ticket was stolen from them.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Nonsense, nothing rhymes with orange, not even orange.
borange. corange. dorange.
Lots of things rhyme with orange. I just don’t know what those things are.
Yes, I know that. I was feeling negative about state and federal government. Local government too.
We Sure Are!!! BTW did you win the lottery lately.
Door Hinge
Same here. I may have something left over after wifey gets her cut.
add orangutang too.
No, the state didn't do anything with the money. The cash value remains the same.
What happened is that the advertised jackpot reflected the annuity rates that were available at that time. Since the winner didn't claim the prize, the annuity hadn't been purchased yet.
Interest rates have dropped in the past year (30 year fixed mortgage rates are under 4%). So, the annuity that can be purchased with the cash value yield less, over the long term.
Maybe a cheap trick to keep visibility off, on top of going the "Trust" route. But, this is the 2nd high visibility winning in my short term memory that has gone the Trust route. Obviously the concept of using a Trust to maintain your anonymity has caught on...
Texas doesn't allow you to remain anonymous. But, there are ways around it.
It makes some sense to set up a trust to claim the prize in order to protect your identity. But I guess that takes some time and no small upfront expense to do so.
It makes a lot of sense, and is very common in states that don't allow the recipient to remain anonymous. I don't know why no one has done it in Iowa yet -- perhaps they just don't know better.
But I guess that takes some time and no small upfront expense to do so.
It's not a huge amount of time -- a month or two. You have to file paperwork with the state, and get a tax ID number from the IRS (the last part can be nearly instant).
But, it's not really that expensive, at least in comparison to the amount that was won. A good attorney specializing in estate law will do it right for under $10K.
If the attorney knows what he/she is doing, they will also set a limited partnership so that the winner is protected from bogus lawsuits.
I heard someone say that if they won the lottery they would immediately call every friend and family member they could think of and ask to borrow $10,000. Then wait a few days to see what everyone says before announcing the win.
Makes sense but the state will make it difficult to claim. The states clearly wants it.
I'd have to carry around an MP3 player with a recording that says "go to hell" or "get lost" just to keep from wearing my voice out, I'd be saying it so much. Oh, and an armed guard too. Such a system would get me through until I could move far away, or go into isolation.
All covered by the simple reply "STFU and honor the ticket."
And don't forget the psychics who will come out of the woodwork claiming you "stole" THEIR numbers that they would have played, had they bought a ticket.
And get ready for every sob story letter that shows up in your mailbox, and how evil and greedy you are for not financing their UFO research.
Agee....If the Ticket is valid and duly presented the state has no say.
Management had a weekly status / round table with our Director every Thursday. It was more B.S.'ing than anything else, unless we were jammed up with deadlines. If I hit the Lottery, I would keep it to myself completely, but drive over to Florida every weekend and do the following: (1) Buy a cheap house to establish residency (2) Sell or give away my vehicles and buy new ones there (and, of course paying Florida taxes on them) and never driving them out of the state, get Florida tags and Drivers License (3) Give my home away here LEGALLY with the stipulation to new owner that I could live in it for nothing for a few months, with no lease, payment, paperwork or anything like that (4) buy NOTHING here...everything bought in Florida (including groceries) (5) find an old drunk who had a car with local tags and give him a couple of hundred dollars a week to use it. Again, nothing in writing. (6) etc (7) etc. The whole point of the plan would be to make it appear that I was a Florida resident and completely divorcing myself from this state. No paper trail !!!! Plus, all the time going to work every day with a secret.
THEN, the big day about 5 months later: Go to the aforementioned weekly meeting and somehow get into an argument /shouting match with my Director. I get very loud and call him a couple of names......then jump up out of my chair, kicking it over, saying "I'm tired of this $hit and throw my I.D. Badge across the table at him and tell to stick it up his a$$. Then, as I storm out the door, I shout over my shoulder, you can all get eff'ed. Then, leave and never look back, heading straight to Florida and get my tax-free big bucks. Never come back to this state or ever make contact with a single sole locally, even my best friends.
Imagine how the stories would grow from that day forward and keep growing as time went by. "WOW...you should have seen (jmax) tell Warren where to stuff it and to get eff'ed. I went by his house today and a neighbor said he had no idea where he went. House is empty, no cars in driveway or anything. He just dissappeared..... checked with the police and they knew nothing....same with the County Court House. Nothing..... I tell you, he just fell off the earth or something". And, how the Warren story would build over the years...."He shot Warren and ran, never to be seen again. Even shot 3 Security Guards on the way out", never picked up his final paycheck, left his lunch in his office, etc. etc. etc.
Ah...but life is good here in Florida. Fishing is fabulous. White sandy beaches, drinking those colored drinks with the little umbrella's sticking out. Corvette all polished up...... thinking about running up to Georgia tomorrow to visit a couple of cousins. As I said: LIFE IS GOOD.
I thought right away of Milton ... "I could put strychnine in the guacamole."
Matthew said that, but goat granny says don’t tear up that winning lotto ticket...
It is strange to wait until the last minute....A few years ago a guy had a winning ticket, knew and for some strange reason, signed it and sent it in the USPS mail like any other piece of mail, about three days before the expiration. Lottery officials opened it at 1600 hrs. and pretty near had a heart attack. At the time, I was thinking that for $17 million, I’d have walked all year to Lottery Headquarters.
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