A man in the United States has claimed that he is the rightful owner of the largest jackpot in US lottery history and filed a lawsuit claiming the $2.04 billion Powerball ticket was stolen from him. According to NBC4, the man's name is Jose Rivera who claims that he bought the winning ticket from Joe's Service Centre in Atlanta on November 7 last year, a day before the historic drawing. Earlier this month, the California Lottery officials had identified the winner as Edwin Castro.
In his lawsuit, Mr Rivera has named Mr Castro and a mystery man named 'Reggie', as per New York Post. The lawsuit alleges that 'Reggie' stole the ticket from Mr Rivera on the day it was purchased.
After the drawing, Mr Rivera approached 'Reggie' and asked him to give him the ticket back. But the man allegedly claimed that the ticket did not match all the six numbers and demanded to split the prize 50-50 if it did, according to Mr Rivera.
The man said he reported the incident to California Lottery, which later issued a statement.
"The California Lottery is not authorized to investigate criminal activity among its players; such allegations are subject to investigation only by local law enforcement. Should a local law enforcement agency investigate such allegations, Lottery's only role is to assist in the matter by answering questions and/or providing evidence as allowed under the law,'' company spokesperson Carolyn Becker said in the statement given the NBC4.
"Further, when it comes to the vetting process for big winners, California Lottery has the utmost confidence in its process for doing so. California Lottery remains confident that Edwin Castro is the rightful winner of the $2.04 billion prize stemming from the Powerball drawing in November of 2022," the statement further said.
The spokesperson said they announce the winner's name after thorough background check and review.
Mr Castro's name was announced by the lottery officials at a press conference earlier this month. They said he opted for the lump sum payout of $997.6 million.
Apart from his name, no other details were revealed at the press conference.
According to disclosure laws in California, a lottery winner's name and other relevant information is publicly revealed. But there are some conditions. USA Today said that state laws only allow disclosure of full name, the name and location of the retailer that sold the winning ticket, the date jackpot was won and amount of winnings (including details of payouts).
Powerball is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Each ticket costs $2.
The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are one in 292.2 million.
