The Latest On The Withdrawn Jackpot Claim

With the crush of media calls today, I am just now having a chance to blog about the latest unusual twist in the claim – and now withdrawal of the claim – for the multi-million-dollar Hot Lotto jackpot won in December 2010 in Des Moines.

We received confirmation a little after 6 p.m. last night that the claim for the ticket was being withdrawn. It’s definitely the real winning ticket and it was worth millions of dollars. We wanted to pay the prize and have said repeatedly that we were ready to pay the prize, but we needed just some basic information before we could do so.

Ultimately, the folks representing Hexham Investments Trust said they wouldn’t provide the information, so they were walking away.

I’ve been asked several different times by reporters today what we think/how we feel/what our reaction is. We’re disappointed that this prize won’t be paid. But at the same time, we focused throughout the process of doing the right thing and wanted to be thoughtful, methodical and careful in our approach. I would hope that’s what everyone would want us to do when there are millions of dollars on the line. And there definitely were in this instance!

So, now what happens to the money? The total involved is the $10.75 million in cash that was on hand from the sale of tickets for that particular Hot Lotto jackpot drawing. The money will be returned to the 15 lotteries that sell the Hot Lotto game in proportion to the percentage of sales that came from each state.

Here in Iowa, the money will ultimately go into the Iowa Lottery’s prize pools for future games and promotions. We’re talking about having a promotion in the spring to give away the money, maybe something with the theme that “everyone deserves a second chance”! We can have some fun with it. We haven’t had a chance yet to work through those details, but we will do so as soon as we can.

Here is the statement we issued last night: 

DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa Lottery officials met Thursday evening with local counsel from the Davis Brown Law Firm representing Hexham Investments Trust. Following that meeting, Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich released the following statement:

“This has been and continues to be the strangest situation that we can recall in the 26-year history of our lottery.

We were excited when the Hot Lotto jackpot-winning ticket was presented in December and we were hopeful that we’d soon be paying out the big prize to the lucky winner. That has not happened. And in fact, late this afternoon, the jackpot claim from Hexham Investments Trust of Bedford, N.Y., was withdrawn. We received confirmation of the claim withdrawal shortly after 6 p.m. today from the Davis Brown Law Firm here in Des Moines.    

As you likely know, the winning ticket for the Hot Lotto jackpot won in December 2010 in Des Moines was turned in here at the lottery with less than two hours to go before the prize would have expired. The winning ticket was signed by a trustee on behalf of Hexham Investments Trust, but no member of the trust was present when the ticket was brought to the lottery by two lawyers on Dec. 29.

That day, and since that time, we have been requesting basic information so we could confirm that the winning ticket was legally purchased, legally possessed and legally presented. This standard information is routinely requested of jackpot winners here in Iowa as part of our security processes to comply with both Iowa law and our lottery’s game rules. Those details usually are received within minutes at the time a winning ticket is presented, not in weeks or months. It has been 13 months since the purchase of this ticket and the drawing in which it won the jackpot.   

Those specifics in this instance were not shared with us when the ticket was brought to the lottery, and have still not been shared with us nearly a month later. We established 3 p.m. CST tomorrow as the deadline for that information to be provided so we could bring closure to the situation and move forward.

On Monday, we had informed the trust’s local counsel at the Davis Brown Law Firm in Des Moines of today’s deadline and specified in a letter the information we were requesting. Throughout this week, we remained in contact with lawyers at Davis Brown about our request. We received a letter from the law firm on Wednesday, specifying that if jackpot were to be paid to the trust, all of the winnings would be donated to charity. However, the specifics we sought were not provided.

The Lottery sent a reply to Davis Brown on Thursday, declining to pay the prize because of our concerns about the legality of the purchase, possession, and presentation of this ticket. A copy of that correspondence has been provided today.
 
During conversations with the lottery, Mr. Shaw specified that he is not the beneficiary of Hexham Investments Trust, only its lawyer and trustee. He also specified that he is not the person who purchased the winning ticket in Des Moines, and stated that the recipient of Hexham Investments Trust was a corporation in the country of Belize. He stated that he ultimately did not know the identity of the winner(s).

Through this process, we have tried our best to remain open and transparent, while protecting the integrity of the Iowa Lottery and its games.”

Comments

[Mary Neubauer]

Hi, Ed. Great questions. The Iowa Attorney General's Office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation have announced that they are conducting a joint investigation into the entire situation, so there is a lot that is still underway. The security-camera footage of the ticket being purchased is a key piece of evidence in the investigation, so it will not be released. Mary

[lucas hernandez]

Time to show the video.

Shouldn't you be investigating from point a to point z instead.
It would save the huge bill to the taxpayers.

Point z sounds way out of reach with all these attorneys representing attorneys who represent a shadow.

Video =Purchaser=culprit who stole it which will =the attorneys who attempted to help cash it knowing it was stolen..

[ed barry]

I would like to know what additional efforts are going to be made to identify the buyer of the ticket. The ticket was for 5 consecutive drawing not 5 tickets for just one drawing. To me this indicates the purchaser was a regular player; more likely a local or at least Iowa resident as opposed to an interstate or international traveler. I do not understand why a photo of the purchase is not being released if the buyer is shown in the photo. I assume the buyer puchased more items than the ticket. If they used a debit or credit card it should be traceable. This person could be a victim. i would hope this does not just stop with redistribution of the prize

[lucas hernandez]

If you the ia lottery is concerned of the legality of purchase, possesion and presentation then why not show the video.
The legitimate owner deserves to get what is rightfully theirs but all I hear is that the money is going back to prize pool.

Mr shaw and his crew were not going to be able to produce the purchaser nor the actual owner of the ticket because none of them were ethier.

You may have publicly advertised for the winner to come forward but that is not enough if you have actual video footage of that person to make them aware of their lost/misplaced possesion but in this case stolen then isn't there a sence of obligation?

We pay our money for a chance of a life changing experience.
Where is the second chance here? Other then the ia lottery to profit further from those who decide to steal what was not theirs.