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FreiburgA lottery ticket makes a winner and a doomed
Two people claimed the same prize, but one of them was a thief.
When he wanted to cash in his winnings, he noticed that the ticket had disappeared (illustration image).
LAB
This Waldensian is a lucky man, even in his misfortune. On November 4, 2021, at a gas station in Romont (FR), he bought a lottery ticket, which turned out to be a winner. Later in the day, in order to cash it, he went to a kiosk in Écublens (VD), where he lives. But the kiosk in question did not have sufficient cash to pay him his winnings of 360 francs. So he went back there the next day and it was there that he noticed that the ticket, along with an amount of a hundred francs, had disappeared from his pocket.
The thief is trying to get the payoff
In the meantime, a Moroccan man in his forties, residing in Bulle (FR), had also tried twice to cash in on the gain. First in a business in the Gruyère capital – but it didn’t work, the ticket having already been validated in Écublens – then by registered mail sent directly to the Loterie Romande. The ticket being already claimed, the latter logically paid nothing to the Fribourgeois. On the contrary, she notified the police.
Summoned to the station, the Moroccan argued that he had found the winning ticket, abandoned in a parking lot. It doesn’t matter if this explanation is true or false. In fact, he attempted to appropriate an amount of which he was not the legitimate holder. And, given his background, four convictions for theft and robbery, he was fined 300 francs.
As for the Vaudois, he logically ended up receiving his 360 francs. “For confidentiality reasons, no information relating to our players can be given. However, a ticket or receipt declared as stolen only remains blocked in our system for the time it takes to determine the true beneficiary of the prize”, confirms the Loterie Romande.
Theft attempts are rare
Scratch tickets and game receipts are barcoded. Adopted several years ago, this system makes it possible to avoid the collection, on the network of points of sale, of tickets which would have been declared stolen. Moreover, “this type of situation remains very rare”, specifies the Loterie Romande. In addition, the latter recommends that players write their details on the back of scratch tickets or receipts for winning games. If a player is the victim of theft, she recommends contacting her or reporting the theft to the police.
