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 ...
Neubauer said the jackpot had an annuity value of $16.5 million when the prize was drawn, but has dropped to about $14.3 million because of a weak bond market. She said the winner has 60 days to decide whether to take the annuity or a cash payout of $10.75 million, which has not changed.
In today’s market, few are actually making money. The name of the game today is to preserve wealth, not make it.
It’s the fault of the ticket holders for not claiming their prize sooner.
When you win a big jackpot you should have a trust pick up the check so that you aren’t hounded. It is strange to wait until the last minute.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal
Make sure the ticket is not a forgery — could be Obama’s goons trying suck up more campaign money....or to pay for more vacations and golf games.
I have too many bum relatives who would be at my doorstep the day word got out that I won the lottery. If I could I would put the money in a trust to hide my identity. I can’t figure out waiting until the last two hours to claim the winnings.
The best advice I’ve heard, if you’ve won the lottery, to take off for 6 months anywhere.
I know. Wealth of any kind is transitory in nature.
Enjoy it, while you have it, but let it go when it goes.
It would seem likely that this was a tax strategy by the holder(s) of the ticket.
The headline amount for a lottery jackpot is nonsense. The actual prize is $10.75 million. The $16.5 million and $14.3 million are just the nominal amounts of annuity payouts which were available a year ago and today. There was no investment decision made by the state that affected any of these numbers.
Hey, are we related?
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.
I thought most lotteries stipulate you agree to some level of publicity if you win.
That’s the government again. They talk about fairness but they’re not fair.
The value was $16.5 million but the bond market went down so now they’ll only pay out 14.3 million.
They should pay the full amount
Hey greywhiskers check out post #11, these old orangemen have more identity probs than we do.
If I won that kinda money, I could pay most of my bills!
Cheers!
Y’all must be, since yore names rhyme
When you are talking about large lottery sized jackpots, I wouldn’t care if it was the annuity value or the actual cash payout. The key is to wisely manage what you have so that you don’t end up blowing everything. Remaining anonymous if possible is one of the most important ways to do this. A large number of lottery winners end up losing it all because so many people hit them up for money in one way or another. If nobody knows you have the jackpot, then they won’t ask you for money, although some people might get suspicious if you have the cars, houses, etc but don’t seem to ever go to work.
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