£2.5m UK Lotto Winner Charged With Fraud

£2.5M UK LOTTO WINNER CHARGED WITH FRAUD

Nine years ago, Edward Putman who now lives in Kings Langley in Hertfordshire, England, won a £2.5m UK Lotto jackpot. This week Hertfordshire Police charged him with fraud over the win after a three-year investigation.The 53-year-old UK Lotto player has been under investigation by Hertfordshire’s Serious Fraud and Cyber Unit. They had received evidence that his £2.5m UK Lotto win was not the result of a genuine claim.  It alleged that Putman had colluded with a Camelot insider, but the police dropped the case as they had insufficient evidence at that time. The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) also investigated the matter and concluded that “it was more likely than not that a fraudulent prize claim had been paid out.”The jackpot win came in the March 11, 2009 UK Lotto draw. The winning numbers were 06-09-20-31-31-34 and won Mr Putman a total of £2,525,485.  It’s believed that the insider identified an unclaimed jackpot, then printed a new ticket with the same numbers and tore off the barcode and gave it to Mr Putman to submit as a winner. He claimed the prize just days before the ticket was due to expire. This year an Irish woman claimed a €35,584 Irish Lotto win three days before its expiry date.The UK Lotto winner was later given a nine-month jail sentence after claiming unemployment benefits despite being a lottery winner. The suspected Camelot employee is alleged to have tried to blackmail Putman and later committed suicide.Camelot, who are due to make changes to the UK Lotto draw in November, said they are aware of the charge against Mr Putman but it “wouldn’t be appropriate” for them to comment now charges have been laid over the UK Lotto win.Earlier this week we told you about the ongoing dispute in Canada over a $6.1m Lotto 6/49 win. In Australia, Reginald Roberts won a $973,320 Australian Lottery prize despite being in jail.Putman has used his UK Lotto winnings to purchase two luxurious homes, one of which has 22 cars and vans outside it. Englishman Tom Naylor won £15.5m playing UK Lotto and now has a car collection worth £1m.The UK Lotto winner has yet to make any statement on the allegations and has been charged with fraud by false representation following an alleged fraudulent claim of a lottery prize. He has been bailed to appear at St. Albans Magistrate Court on October 16.