This is a wild story that probably has two men scratching their heads trying to figure out what to do.
Two credit card fraudsters in France stole a credit card and bought a lotto ticket which is now worth $523,000. Understandably, the have fled before cashing in their winnings.
The victim, Jean David E., now says he will split the winnings with them under one condition – they return his stolen wallet too.
No One Has Come Forward To Claim Winnings
As of Saturday, the state lottery operator La Française des Jeux, or FDJ, said that no one had submitted the ticket to cash out. If the fraudsters were to come forward, they face the prospect of getting arrested and doing jailtime.
After discovering his backpack had been stolen from his car in Toulouse, Jean-David (the victim) quickly contacted his bank to cancel his cards, only to find thieves had already made purchases at a local store.
At the shop, a vendor told him two apparently homeless men had used one of his cards to buy the winning scratch-off lottery ticket.
They were so happy they won, that they left the main thing they came into the store to buy – their cigarettes and personal belongings.
Police May Try To Sieze Winnings
In the event the two homeless theives come forward to claim their winnings it may be all for naught, as police say that they might try to seize the winnings since they were obtained fraudulently.
As for Jean David, he has an attorney and is ready to cut a deal.
“Without them, no one would have won,” he told France-2 television. His lawyer, Debuisson, made a public appeal Thursday urging the perpetrators to come forward, promising they would “risk nothing” and could “change their lives” through a negotiated share of the prize.
They may want to cut a deal soon, because the ticket will eventually expire.
