Imagine, one day, you suddenly find a crumpled lottery ticket, and on cross-checking the numbers, you find that it's your luckiest day ever!
Well, in reality, some people had been in the same situation. In this article, we will be discussing such incidents about people who got lottery tickets out of nowhere and how they claimed their cash legally from someone else's purchase.
When luck rests in a Supermarket
Amanda and Michael Stacy dwelled in Swindon, and they were doing their weekly supermarket shopping. Suddenly Amanda found a lottery ticket on the floor and picked it up thinking to give it a chance. She hardly anticipated that this action could change their life because they found that the lottery ticket was worth £30,000.
However, the original buyer of the lottery ticket Dorothy McDonagh was able to prove that she had bought the ticket. But by that time, Amanda and Michael had already spent £15,000 of the total winning amount, and they were forced to declare guilty of theft and fraud. They were ordered to pay out the remaining amount to McDonagh. So this adventure did not end well, as the Lottery Authority refused to make further payments, and both the parties were left feeling horrible. The couple ended up with a criminal condemnation, whereas McDonagh never got half of her winning amount. So in this story did not end well!
When landscaper found luck amongst leaves
Marvin Martinez is a landscaper, and his story was something different. One day while collecting leaves, he suddenly got his hand to a lottery ticket that was unscratched and unsigned. Martinez was not sure but ended up scratching the card that was worth a thousand dollars. So finally, bewildered Martinez decided to contact the lottery organizers and explained to them how he got that ticket. The authority told that an investigation would be carried out to find out the original buyer and if he was telling the truth. As days passed by, Martinez almost forgot about this incident and convinced himself that he is going to get nothing out of that lottery ticket. But his luck clicked because, according to the law, if no one claims the prize after one year, then Martinez will become the rightful winner. That winning amount he received did change his life drastically.
Is it legal to claim winning prize from a crimpled lottery ticket?
Well, it's hard to tell because many other similar incidents did not end up well. The two parties either ended up splitting the winning amount or ended up being convicted of a crime. This is why the lottery authorities always recommend signing the ticket to confirm ownership. However, most of the lottery organizations try their best to track down the original owner of the ticket. But it becomes complicated to find out someone who did not sign on their ticket and purchased in cash instead of using a debit or credit card.
Also, sometimes it is not a good idea to believe in "Finder Keepers, loser weepers." Try being honest in your life, and that can pay you back just like Martinez!
