Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 28, 1992 TAG: 9202280227
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BONNIE V. WINSTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
WINNING TICKET OFFERED TO STATE
A mystery man claiming to represent the winner of the state's record $27 million Lotto jackpot contacted state lottery officials Wednesday with an offer to sell the ticket back to the state for its current $14.4 million cash value."We told him no, we're not allowed to do that under our law," said lottery spokeswoman Paula Otto on Thursday. "We told him the winner would have to take the prize in payouts over 20 years."
Otto also said the man, who claimed he was a lawyer from Florida, never identified himself, his firm or his client. Nor did he say anything about the ticket that would lead officials to believe the call was legitimate, she added.
"He might very well be representing the winner, but he might not," she said.
Otto said state Lottery Director Kenneth Thorson was not in the office when the man called Wednesday shortly before the office's 5 p.m. closing.
After the initial payment of about $1 million was withheld, the prize was invested by the lottery in securities that will yield $27 million in 19 additional installments.
An Australian syndicate apparently funneled more than $2 million through an American agent to purchase tickets for the record Lotto on Feb. 15. Many of the tickets were purchased at Farm Fresh stores and other convenience marts throughout Hampton Roads and Richmond.
Otto said the caller did not have a foreign accent.
Speculation has focused on the Melbourne-based International Lotto Fund and Stefan Mandel, a consultant to the group who has made a career out of trying to beat lottery systems.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that the International Lotto Fund told its 2,500 investors in a letter Feb. 20 that it had won a major overseas drawing the previous weekend.
The letter did not specify Virginia but said the prize had not been claimed, as was the case in Virginia as of late Thursday. The winner has 180 days to claim the prize.
The syndicate that holds the winning ticket may be trying to sell it in order to keep its role in the lottery secret and collect its winnings now, rather than wait for it to be paid out over 20 years.
Managers of the investment fund have been unreachable for comment. Mandel denies he personally won any prize, and says he has no stake in the fund.