Iowa Lottery officials are trying to solve the intriguing mystery behind a year-old winning lottery ticket which was claimed less than two hours before deadline for a jackpot worth up to $14.3 million.
Two attorneys with Des Moines-based Davis Brown Law Firm turned up at Iowa Lottery headquarters at 2.10pm on Thursday, December 29 with the winning Hot Lotto ticket, just before the 4pm deadline.
They represent Hexam Investments Trust, whose trustee is a lawyer and businessman named Crawford Shaw from the wealthy town of Bedford, New York.
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 Iowa 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 out the massive prize, Iowa Lottery officials said they will conduct a thorough investigation to make sure the ticket was legally purchased, possessed and presented.
The day after the deadline, they received calls from multiple, unrelated people claiming the ticket was stolen from them.
Steve Bogle, the Lottery’s vice president of security, said it had never faced similar circumstances in its 26-year history: a huge jackpot claimed so close before the deadline, a winner who sent lawyers to claim the prize rather than showing up in person, and a trust whose members weren’t immediately clear.
“Everybody’s curiosity is very high. We hope to be able to get all our questions answered and that everything works out so we can award this prize,” he said.
“We will do this as expeditiously as possible but we will be very thorough and comprehensive.”
Neubauer said it is not known whether 76-year-old Shaw is the winner or whether he simply represents others.
She said investigators were in “initial conversations” with him and making arrangements to meet him in person.
Security footage showing someone purchasing the winning ticket – with the winning numbers 3-12-16-26-33 and Hot Ball 11 – at a busy Des Moines convenience store on December 29, 2010 will be reviewed as part of the investigation.
Attorney Beau Gamble of the Davis Brown Law Firm claimed he had “no idea” who actually bought the ticket and his firm was simply representing the trust. Asked whether Shaw was the winner, Gamble said: “That will be up to the Lotto to decide. Mr Shaw is not claiming to be the winner. He’s just the trustee of the trust.”
Gamble added he wasn’t authorised to comment on any other details or “the mechanics” of how the ticket was found and sent to Iowa.
Lottery officials said they first heard from the law firm just two days before the deadline and were told it was representing a trust in connection with the jackpot. Neubauer said the ticket was shipped the next day through FedEx, presumably from New York, and arrived at the firm on deadline day.
“We look forward to learning the details we’ve all been wondering about these many months, such as: How did the winner find out he had the jackpot-winning ticket? How long has he known he’d won? Why did he wait until the last day to turn in the ticket?” Lottery CEO Terry Rich said. “Every winner’s situation is different, and it’s always fun to hear the story.”
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 since the prize was drawn.
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