A 28-year-old Algerian in an illegal situation won 250,000 euros in a Belgian national lottery scratch card game and is now fighting to recover his winnings, which will only be paid to him if he can prove his identity.
Joined Friday by AFP, Alexander Verstraete, the young man’s lawyer, explained that the winning ticket was currently in the hands of justice, in Bruges, after three friends tried in vain to recover the money for him. .
This led to the latter, who are also North Africans, being suspected of theft and spending a night in police custody last week, underlined Me Verstraete.
The Bruges public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation to find the lucky winner. He was able to clear his friends by presenting himself to the police with his lawyer, but he must now prove himself his good faith.
“My client is in an illegal situation, he has no papers and does not have a bank account either“said the lawyer,”we are looking for these documents that will prove his identity, he will have to contact his family in Algeria“.
The winning ticket was purchased a few weeks ago in Zeebrugge. This gain constitutes the “jackpot” of a scratch ticket from the “Cash” range sold for five euros and which offers “one in 3.69 chance” to recover his bet, according to the site of the national lottery.