A 28-year-old illegal Algerian won 250,000 euros in a national lottery scratch game. He is now fighting to recover his prize, 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, following three friends tried in vain to recover the money for him. . This earned them to be suspected of theft and spend a night in police custody last week, said Me Verstraete.
“He will have to contact his family in Algeria”
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 which will be able to prove his identity, he will have to contact his family in Algeria”.
The winning ticket was purchased a few weeks ago in Zeebrugge, a Belgian port city which is a popular destination for migrants trying to reach England illegally hidden in trucks or containers.
Justice will decide
According to Me Verstraete, his client, who does not intend to apply for asylum to stay in Belgium (he does not come from a country at war), has obtained from the Belgian authorities the promise not to be returned to the border before having perceived his gain.
This gain constitutes the “jackpot” of a scratch ticket from the “Cash” range sold for five euros and which offers “one chance in 3.69” of recovering its bet, according to the national lottery site. The merchant who sold this ticket is prohibited from remitting any such cash prize. For any “prize” greater than 100,000 euros, the point of sale of the ticket systematically sends the winner to the company’s headquarters in Brussels, explained Joke Vermoere, spokesperson for the national lottery. This is where the winner’s three friends went, one of whom claimed to be able to collect the money from his bank account.
“The winner did not come to us, we did not see him, which is currently blocking the procedure for handing over the prize. argued Ms. Vermoere, without specifying the conditions or the nature of the documents required: “It is in the hands of the Bruges public prosecutor’s office“.
