$560M Powerball winner refuses to claim prize as she fights for anonymity

[Teh One Who Knocks]

FOX News and the Associated Press


https://i.imgur.com/2ggGFBV.jpg

The New Hampshire woman who won the $559.7 million Powerball jackpot last month is refusing to claim her prize, saying in court documents that she first wants assurances she can remain anonymous when she collects her winnings.

But state officials say the woman may face even longer odds in her legal battle, because New Hampshire open-records laws mandate that lotto winners publicly disclose their name, town, and amount won.

“While we respect this player's desire to remain anonymous, state statutes and lottery rules clearly dictate protocols,” New Hampshire lottery Executive Director Charlie McIntyre said in a statement.

New Hampshire is one of a handful of states that permit lottery winners to form anonymous trusts to shield their newfound riches. But the woman already signed her name to the winning ticket and cannot alter her signature and hide her identity without voiding the ticket.

Writing her name, as opposed to the name of a trust, was a "huge mistake" based on her interpretation of rules posted on the lottery website, the woman said in her complaint in Hillsborough Superior Court in Nashua.

Her resulting dilemma – forego forever either a once-in-a-lifetime payday, or her anonymity – is legally impermissible, according to her attorney.

"She is a longtime resident of New Hampshire and is an engaged community member," the woman’s attorney wrote in court documents. "She wishes to continue this work and the freedom to walk into a grocery store or attend public events without being known or targeted as the winner of a half-billion dollars."

Publicity brings significant apparent risk to lottery winners. Two years ago, a Georgia forklift operator who won $434,272 in a lottery was executed in his home by several masked robbers as he pleaded for his life.

In 2012, a 46-year-old Chicago man was poisoned with cyanide the day after he won a $1,000,000 lottery prize. While family members were suspected in the death, none have ever been charged, and the case remains unsolved.

And in 2005, an Illinois jackpot winner who claimed an approximately $20,000,000 prize was murdered by his sister-in-law and her boyfriend.

[lost in melb.]

Fighting for her life :lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Oh boo hoo, I have to reveal who I am to collect my half a billion dollars :sad:


:rolleyes:

[Noilly Pratt]

Hire a lawyer and put it in a trust or something. You're gonna get the millions...you can fork over a few thousand for that...

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Hire a lawyer and put it in a trust or something. You're gonna get the millions...you can fork over a few thousand for that...

She can't do a trust now, she signed the ticket like a dumbass and now has to claim it in person.

[Hal-9000]

Up here our names get published and pictures are taken.

My Dad had a childhood friend from Saskatchewan who won a couple of million. Someone grabbed his daughter and attempted to ransom/threaten the girl. Turned out it was another guy they knew from their childhood :|

[PorkChopSandwiches]

They sure seem to know a lot about her already

[Teh One Who Knocks]

They sure seem to know a lot about her already

It's all information disclosed by her attorney.

[Muddy]

I don't blame her.

[DemonGeminiX]

I have a problem with these laws. It's the same in Georgia. You shouldn't have to be publicly identified if you've won. It's nobody else's fucking business that you've won the lottery.

[Hal-9000]

I have a problem with these laws. It's the same in Georgia. You shouldn't have to be publicly identified if you've won. It's nobody else's fucking business that you've won the lottery.

Agreeing strongly. They can say - a person in this city won or even limit it to a state.

With jackpots like 560 million, you become one of Bill Gates' kids and not in the good way. (targets..)

[Godfather]

I think they do it so nobody can claim it's the Lotto's CEO's daughter winning it every week, which I get :lol: Hard to have a conspiracy theory when you're forced to be transparent.


That said... they don't force you to look like your Driver's License do they? I'd pay someone to put a shit load of make-up on me and see how that went. Maybe call myself 'trans-identity' or something if they tried to argue. My name is generic enough that with enough make-up I might be able to fly under the radar from a good chunk of people who'd otherwise know me :rofl:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Bryan Llenas | Fox News


https://i.imgur.com/XhgzuE2.jpg

A woman who won a half-billion-dollar Powerball is suing the New Hampshire Lottery Commission because she wants to remain anonymous, but at least one prominent lawyer who has represented past big winners says the suit could backfire on her.

“I think she's going down a dangerous path here, because if she does not win and I think there's a strong chance she's not going to win then her name is really going to be out there,” Jason Kurland said, a partner at Certilman Balin Adler Hyman, LLP. “People are really going to want to know who she is.”

There are seven states that allow lottery winners to remain anonymous. An additional six states, including New Hampshire, allow winners to claim their winnings through a trust. It’s even trickier in New Hampshire, where the trust must put their names on the back of the original winning ticket.

In this case the anonymous woman, or Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit claiming that the commission is significantly infringing on her privacy. She acknowledges that when she won she went onto the New Hampshire Lottery, website which instructed her to sign the back of the winning ticket. She did, but when she went to seek counsel, a lawyer advised her that because she signed the ticket — and not the Trust — she forfeited her right to privacy.

The woman acknowledges it was a “huge mistake” to sign the ticket, but now she’s asking the commission to allow her to “white out” her personal information and allow a trust to sign the back.

“I think more likely they're going to say, 'When you buy a ticket, you're waiving your right to privacy. You understand that,” Kurland said. “They still don't disclose her address, they don't disclose her social security number, her financial information, it's basically just her name."

Meantime, the woman is losing tens of thousands of dollars in interest on her winnings. She was able to claim her prize on Jan. 22, and everyday that goes by is money lost.

Kurland believes time is of the essence and suing the commission puts this woman at greater risk.

“This ticket, which is worthless for 300 other million people, is now worth $500 million,” Kurland explained. “I would rather sign it and take my chances with the anonymity a little later, than risk something happening to that ticket.”

The woman claims her biggest reasoning for privacy is her safety. The lawsuit lists past lottery winners who have been victims to scams, threats and even murder. In 2012, a Florida woman was found guilty of murdering 47-year-old Abraham Shakespeare after stealing part of his $30 million winnings.

The woman says she intends to stay in New Hampshire and help charities.

The business owner of Reeds Ferry Market in Merrimack, New Hampshire, is on her side.

“It's her money. Let her do whatever she wants and that's her decision. Leave her alone,” Sam Safa said.

Safa was awarded the maximum allowed to business owners who sell the winning ticket — $75,000 — a couple of weeks ago.

“I hope the state of New Hampshire is a little flexible about keeping her anonymous,” he said.

The New Hampshire Lottery Commission says "the Lottery must proceed in accordance [with] its rules and by state law in processing this claim like any other."

[Muddy]

I think they do it so nobody can claim it's the Lotto's CEO's daughter winning it every week, which I get :lol: Hard to have a conspiracy theory when you're forced to be transparent.


That said... they don't force you to look like your Driver's License do they? I'd pay someone to put a shit load of make-up on me and see how that went. Maybe call myself 'trans-identity' or something if they tried to argue. My name is generic enough that with enough make-up I might be able to fly under the radar from a good chunk of people who'd otherwise know me :rofl:

Fair point.

[Hal-9000]

I think they do it so nobody can claim it's the Lotto's CEO's daughter winning it every week, which I get :lol: Hard to have a conspiracy theory when you're forced to be transparent.


That said... they don't force you to look like your Driver's License do they? I'd pay someone to put a shit load of make-up on me and see how that went. Maybe call myself 'trans-identity' or something if they tried to argue. My name is generic enough that with enough make-up I might be able to fly under the radar from a good chunk of people who'd otherwise know me :rofl:

There's a news story here about a chick going blackface. Maybe try that GF?


:lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Amy Lieu | Fox News


https://i.imgur.com/6bkjIMV.jpg

A New Hampshire woman who claims to have won a $560 million Powerball jackpot -- but is fighting to remain anonymous -- is losing about $14,000 a day in interest, her attorney says.

Steven Gordon is trying to fast-track a court hearing in the case, telling the New Hampshire Union Leader that “time is of the essence in this matter.”

The winning ticket, purchased in January at Reed’s Ferry Market in Merrimack, N.H., translates to a lump-sum cash prize of $352 million before taxes and $268 million after taxes.

The woman, who has not yet submitted her winning ticket to the New Hampshire Lottery Commission, is referred to as Jane Doe in the court documents.

“Pushing the resolution of this case into March will subject Ms. Doe to serious and irreparable financial harm,” Gordon told the Union Leader.

Privacy is a primary concern for the woman, a longtime resident of New Hampshire and an engaged community member who does not want to be known or targeted as the winner of a half-billion dollars, the Union Leader reported, citing court documents.

Gordon is hoping to expedite the hearing from Feb. 21 to Feb. 13, and the judge is reviewing the request, the paper reported.

The purported winner plans to contribute a portion of her prize to a charitable foundation, the report said.

[Hal-9000]

14000 a day in interest??????? :shock:

Get the beard and fake glasses and buy a ticket to the Caribbean you fucking idjit :lol:

[Godfather]

Meh, interest rates suck. I wouldn't sweat it if I thought I was in a real position to protect my anonymity.

The rate at which lotto winners are sued is ridiculous. If she can pull it off, it's worth $14k a day in the long run (keep in mind those aren't even actualized losses, they're just not gains).

[Hal-9000]

Meh, interest rates suck...

That's 140000 in ten days...for doing nothing but existing in a bank. Within 100 days 1.4 million gained in interest alone. Just over three months to earn 1.4 mill with no risk?

That's a meh situation? Okaaaay :lol:

With that kind of money she could change her name and go blackface :tup:

[DemonGeminiX]

At this point, I'd just set up a private forwarding address based in the state I was going to move to, come forward and claim it publicly, then move to one state and have my name changed, and then move to the state where I set up the forwarding address, build a house with all the security bells and whistles, and live out the rest of my days as John Smith.