Posted on 01/27/2012 5:17:13 AM PST by jjotto
Lottery Calls Series Of Events 'Strangest Situation' In 26-Year History
DES MOINES, Iowa -- A New York lawyer, acting as the trustee for what is called the Hexham Investment Trust, has indicated he will not pursue a claim for a $14 million lottery jackpot.
Just after 6 p.m. Thursday, lawyers in Des Moines representing attorney Crawford Shaw said he is withdrawing his claim for the "Hot Lotto" ticket that was submitted to Iowa Lottery officials just hours before a Dec. 29, 2011 deadline. The ticket had been purchased at a Des Moines convenience store a year earlier.
Lottery officials said there were conditions that had to be met before they would release the winning the jackpot, including the identity of the purchaser and whether the ticket was legally purchased, presented and possessed.
The statement by the Davis Brown law firm said, "The purchaser has chosen to remain anonymous. The identity of the purchaser has not been disclosed to Shaw."
Shaw told a reporter for the Reuters news service he was giving up the claim because "I'm not going to argue with the lottery."
The statement from the Des Moines lawyers concluded Shaw "has agreed to take no further action." But Lottery officials say the Iowa Attorney General and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) will continue to investigate the situation to see if any laws were broken.
A lottery statement Thursday night called the series of events "the strangest situation that we can recall in the 26-year history of our lottery."
"We couldn't verify the winner. That's the bottom line. We could verify the winner and they could claim it," said Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich. "If, in fact, Mr. Shaw, as a trustee, could provide the information, we were ready to write the check tomorrow at 3 p.m."
Lottery officials said the $10.7 million will be returned to the multistate lottery commission, and Iowa will get roughly $1.3 million back.
Thanks for reposting that thread. I knew something smelled on this one once I started looking into the details.
It is fascinating that the story loops around to JFK.
It is quite possible that once they saw no one was claiming the ticket some entity manufactured a ticket.
If it was a real ticket they could just hand it off to a front man to claim and split the proceeds.
Something really is off about this one.
There IS more to this story. I posted on a thread somewhere info about Crawford Shaw.
It starts with him being involved with the penny stock trade and loops around to JFK.
Yes, I find that very curious. Since the attorney representing the trust has a valid claim, apparently the beneficiary of the trust doesn't want to risk being identified. I do wonder why.
The lottery has followed their rules and state law.
I've actually read the rules and state law. I don't see anything that gives the Iowa Lottery the authority to withhold payment. Do you? Here, I'll even provide them for you:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/DOCS/ACO/IAC/LINC/10-19-2011.Chapter.531.11.pdf
There is ZERO claim to the contrary, other than YOU. There is no problem here. Other than you.
I have no problem. However, I think the Iowa Lottery has a serious problem, if the beneficiary changes his mind and decides to pursue this. A jury might even decide to aware punitive damages.
He should hire a different lawyer, though. That's not a problem -- all he has to do is appoint a new trustee for the trust.
Not according to the Iowa Lottery:
Or someone in the future - like the 450 long lost relatives who will sudden turn up.
This lawyer was hired for a reason.
He is not the run of the mill lawyer
The war buddy of JFK (who was affliated with Shaw) has a son that is also involved with at least one of Shaw’s penny stocks. The son has a very impressive resume..INCLUDING starting a bank in Russia.THE first of it’s kind.
He is now in the oil business.
“sudden” - should be “suddenly”. I saw that just as I hit send.
I dont know. It is possible that some entity could manufacturer a lottery ticket. When no one claimed it they swooped in. I think it is possible that there is someone out there that could manufacture it. Keep in mind the connections of Crawford Shaw.
But we can go with the idea that it is a legitimate ticket.
HOWEVER, the story stinks to high heaven.
“... like the 450 long lost relatives who will suddenly show up”.
Would your forfeit seven million dollars so you wouldn’t have to deal with long lost relatives? If that was the main issue, he could have simply rented another house, claimed the ticket and left. For that kind of money, I would deal with your relatives and mine!
I don't doubt that. But, the lottery has already admitted that the ticket is valid. Their own rules provide for a legal entity with a federal EIN to claim the prize.
I can see that people don't like this guy. But, where does the Lottery's own code allow them to arbitrarily deny a claim because they don't?
Misunderstanding of ‘invalid’.
“A prize claim shall be entered in the name of a single individual or organization. A claim may be entered in the name of an organization only if the organization is a legal entity and possesses or has applied for a federal employer’s identification number (FEIN) as issued by the Internal Revenue Service. Groups, family units, organizations, clubs, or other organizations that are not legal entities, do not possess a FEIN, or have not applied for a FEIN must designate one individual in whose name the claim will be entered.”
Face it, the lawyer screwed up (or was scamming). There are ways this could have been collected. Someone didn’t do their homework.
That would be a poor reason to not claim a prize, especially of this magnitude.
There was a running joke in California: every time someone won a big lottery prize, one wondered who was going home to Mexico this time.
Someone in the country illegally is still entitled to the prize. I read recently that a lottery tried to deny a payment, but was successfully challenged. The winner paid the income taxes and went home.
Okay.
Legitimate Ticket as announced by the Lottery.
Rules that allow for a trust to claim it.
BUT there are claims that the ticket was stolen.
Yes, this often happens with lottery tickets.
Nonetheless, the claims exist.
Therefore, it seems to me that the Lottery has a duty to investigate who owns that ticket.
Have they given out a ticket to a trust when there were claims of the ticket having been stolen in the past???
If so, then there might be a problem.
It’s my understanding that Shaw won’t even meet with the Lottery officials. Come on. A lawyer won’t meet with the lottery?????? A lawyer involved with the man who was Second in Command of the United States Treasury under JFK.
Let’s say a mobster held the winning ticket.
Simple, just hand it over to a front man.
Illegal Alien- same thing.
Mobster holding a Fake ticket and afraid of getting caught - bail on the whole thing.
For all we know, it could be a sting operation with the lottery saying it was a legitimate ticket when it really wasn’t. But then where is the real ticket? There have been lottery tickets that have gone unclaimed.
Whatever the case, this will probably go down in lottery history as the biggest mystery ever.
Therefore, it seems to me that the Lottery has a duty to investigate who owns that ticket.
According to the rules of the Iowa Lottery (and all the others): a lottery ticket is a bearer instrument. Whoever signs it and presents it is the owner.
The Lottery's insistence on the chain of custody is not supported by their own rules.
It’s my understanding that Shaw won’t even meet with the Lottery officials.
>>>It’s my understanding that Shaw won’t even meet with the Lottery officials. Come on. A lawyer won’t meet with the lottery??????
They’ve met... click story.
I'm not sure what you are referring to. The first two sentences of your cite say:
A prize claim shall be entered in the name of a single individual or organization. A claim may be entered in the name of an organization only if the organization is a legal entity and possesses or has applied for a federal employer’s identification number (FEIN) as issued by the Internal Revenue Service.
A trust is an organization. It is a legal entity, and has a Federal EIN.
The attorney was the trustee, and represented the trust. The actual winner was presumably the beneficiary. If the beneficiary instructs the trustee to not reveal his identity, then the attorney has no choice -- or he faces disbarment.
So the story told to the public is:
A trust presents a valid ticket.
On the face it meets the requirements.
But, there must be something that raised a red flag.
The public isn’t always told everything.
There is a video of the purchaser. They want to verify possession or transfer of possession.
The trust lawyer has admitted he has no idea who purchased the ticket. Therefore, he has no idea if that ticket that was in his possession was obtained legally or illegally.
Perhaps that is the red flag.
Does the attorney know the identity of the Beneficiary?
He states he doesn’t know the identity of the purchaser.
So the beneficiary could have stolen or extorted the winning ticket.
It seems to me the beneficiary’s picture doesn’t match the one on the video.
The beneficiary doesn’t want his face known even to lottery officials and/or doesn’t want to tell how he got the ticket.
That’s the point: The winner is willing to give up millions of dollars to remain completely anonymous.
The winner may be hiding from the mafia, not the from legal judgments or tax liens.
Shaw, BTW, would not reveal any details about the trust.
Shaw’s lawyers confirmed to lottery officials that money in the trust was funneled to a corporation in Belize, according to lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/mysterious-iowa-lottery-winner-withdraws-claim/story?id=15455933
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