(FreedomBeacon.com)- Not only is it difficult to become a billionaire overnight, but the winner of the highest lottery prize in history must also deal with an allegation that the winning ticket was stolen from him.
There’s a fight about who should get the biggest lottery prize ever.
José Rivera is suing Edwin Castro for the $2.04 billion that Castro has already pocketed after claiming that he is the rightful owner of the ticket.
The lawsuit claims Rivera bought the winning ticket on November 7 at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California, one day before the drawing. He claims a guy called Reggie took the ticket, and then Castro redeemed it.
Rivera’s recently filed lawsuit, he has listed Reggie and Castro as defendants.
According to reports, Rivera sought to recover the winning ticket he had taken from Reggie but was unsuccessful since Reggie claimed the access wasn’t the winner. Rivera said, strangely, that he “refused to be blackmailed” and went to the California Lottery and the police to resolve the issue.
It is unclear what the blackmail was.
A representative from the lottery said they could not help.
A representative for the California Lottery said that the agency was not allowed to examine criminal activities among its players, adding that only local law enforcement may look into such complaints.
In a statement, the Lottery commission said that its sole participation in the situation is to cooperate in the investigation by answering questions and supplying evidence as authorized by law, should a local law enforcement agency examine such charges.
The agency’s representative said they believe the legitimate lottery winner has already been announced. In addition, the California Lottery is entirely confident in its methods for verifying the identities of major winners.
The California Lottery has declared that they are “certain” that Edwin Castro is the winner of the $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot from the November 2022 drawing.
A check for $997.6 million was written out to Castro as he took possession of his windfall.
Rivera is proceeding with his case, in which he seeks to have the court award him the record-breaking $2.04 billion prize and other damages.
