All she has to do to collect a $560 million lotto jackpot is make her name public. She refuses

[donnay]

All she has to do to collect a $560 million lotto jackpot is make her name public. She refuses.

By Cleve R. Wootson Jr. February 5 at 3:54 PM

The winning numbers triple-checked and the lottery ticket signed, the New Hampshire woman knew her life was about to change in a very positive way — except for one petrifying thing.

As the winner of last month’s $560 million Powerball, she would soon be the world’s newest owner of a nine-digit bank account.

But because of lottery rules, everyone in the world would know about it — neighbors, old high school friends, con artists, criminals.

Now the woman is asking a judge to let her keep the cash — and remain anonymous. In court documents obtained by NewHampshire.com, she is fittingly identified only as Jane Doe.

“She is a longtime resident of New Hampshire and is an engaged community member,” the woman’s attorney, Steven Gordon, wrote in the court documents. “She wishes to continue this work and the freedom to walk into a grocery store or attend public events without being known or targeted as the winner of a half-billion dollars.”

On one side of the case are lottery officials who say the integrity of the games depends on the public identification of its winners as a protection against fraud and malfeasance. A local woman holding up a giant check while cameras flash and reporters scrawl also happens to be a powerful marketing tool.

On the other side is a woman suddenly faced with a life-changing stroke of luck who, court documents say, wishes to live “far from the glare and misfortune that has often fallen upon other lottery winners.”

[ A hospital worker won the Powerball. Her prize: $758.7 million — and police outside her house. ]

The law doesn’t appear to be on her side.

New Hampshire lottery rules require the winner’s name, town and amount won be available for public information, in accordance with open-records laws. The state allows people to form an anonymous trust, NewHampshire.com reported, but it’s a moot point for the woman — she’d already signed her name and altering the signature would nullify the ticket.

In a statement, New Hampshire lottery Executive Director Charlie McIntyre said the commission consulted with the state’s attorney general’s office and that the Powerball winner must abide by the disclosure laws “like any other.”

“The New Hampshire Lottery understands that winning a $560 million Powerball jackpot is a life-changing occurrence,” the statement said. “Having awarded numerous Powerball jackpots over the years, we also understand that the procedures in place for prize claimants are critically important for the security and integrity of the lottery, our players and our games. While we respect this player’s desire to remain anonymous, state statutes and lottery rules clearly dictate protocols.”

Other lottery winners have realized that every ticket buyer’s fantasy can quickly morph into a nightmare. There are myriad self-inflicted problems that can happen to a person who suddenly comes into great wealth. One bought a water park, for example.

And there are numerous examples of people who’ve tried to swindle lottery winners out of their newly acquired cash — or take the money by force.

In November 2015, Craigory Burch Jr. matched all five numbers in the Georgia Fantasy 5 drawing and won a $434,272 jackpot, The Washington Post’s Lindsey Bever reported.

Two months later, police said, Burch was killed in his home by seven masked men who kicked in his front door. His family members said the public announcement of the lottery winnings had made him a target.

“When they came in, he said: ‘Don’t do it, bro. Don’t do it in front of my kids. Please don’t do it in front of my kids and old lady,’ ” his girlfriend, Jasmine Hendricks, told WALB-TV at the time. “He said, ‘I’ll give you my bank card.’ ”

Abraham Shakespeare won a $30 million lottery prize in 2006. Two years later, he was approached by Dorice “Dee Dee” Moore, who said she was writing a book about how people were taking advantage of him. She soon became his financial adviser and slowly siphoned away his money, according to Fox News.

“She got every bit of his money,” Assistant State Attorney Jay Pruner said in closing arguments. “He found out about it and threatened to kill her. She killed him first.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...me-public-she-refuses/?utm_term=.3a6adbbb371b

 

[unconsious767]

I wish I had such a problem !

 

[Schifference]

She will cave in before the deadline.

 

[donnay]

I would legally change my name after this and move somewhere else.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

The state allows people to form an anonymous trust, NewHampshire.com reported, but it’s a moot point for the woman — she’d already signed her name and altering the signature would nullify the ticket.

Seems as though the lottery officials are being pricks just because they can. If it allows for an anonymous trust, then why not let her do that? Who cares what the signature on the ticket says? She verifies the ticket, and then has it given to the trust.

 

[Matt Collins]

When you play the government's game they make you follow their rules.

 

[Schifference]

Seems as though the lottery officials are being pricks just because they can. If it allows for an anonymous trust, then why not let her do that? Who cares what the signature on the ticket says? She verifies the ticket, and then has it given to the trust.

They have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

 

[undergroundrr]

That's tough. Close relatives might be endangered too.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Wealth explained:

 

[Swordsmyth]

Yet another reason not to play the lottery.

 

[DamianTV]

If you give the people nothing, then you have NO CONTROL over them. This is reinforcement of the idea that a person that "wins" has to allow the money manipulators to make those people for sale. That is HUMAN OWNERSHIP. What they want is to "make their money back" by literally either selling her identity or just flat out giving it away to those that would benefit from "her" money.

Heres the thing. She wins, she takes that money, and "puts it in the bank". That money is no longer hers, it is the Banks and she gets an IOU. Usually that IOU is good, but what does the BANK do with that quantity of money she deposits? That money is used to back loans they make to everyone else. The bank profits massively from her depositing or investing, and she will be kept at the bottom despite having gotten ahead of the rest of the 99%, she still isnt ahead of anyone in the 1%.

Simple thing to figure out. Cui Bono. Who benefits? Who would really benefit from her winnings? Her, or those who hold her money? Would they seek to make sure her friends and petty criminals know who she is, or would the top 0.1% benefit from throwing her name around and getting their hands on her money?

 

[phill4paul]

If I won 560 million I'd have at least 10 different identities with documentation and properties and safe deposits in 10 different countries.

 

[Zippyjuan]

I would legally change my name after this and move somewhere else.

Wouldn't probably even need to do it for long- after even a couple of years or so you would be forgotten. At the very least you will need a new phone number for a while.

 

[Anti Federalist]

Good, hope she is successful.

 

[juleswin]

I have to first say that I completely understand where this lady is coming from. I too would like to keep my winnings a secret. But as it is now, I do not have confidence that if they make the winner able to collect in secret, it wouldn't be rigged by insider to give more of the winning jackpots to family and friends. As it is now, I still suspect some of that is going on and would even get more worse if they make the whole thing secret.

I don't think I will continue to buy tickets if more winner turn up collecting in secret. I can only trust these lottery officials as far as a I can throw them and that ain't far. Collect in public or don't collect at all, this is more than you, its about the integrity and confidence of the game.

If she wins this case, I won't be buying anymore even if the jackpot gets to $1 b

 

[newbitech]

"The state allows people to form an anonymous trust, NewHampshire.com reported"

So basically in the rush to claim her prize, she forgot to protect herself and look in to her options. I think its probably a mistake most people make on a daily basis that only gets amplified in a case such as this.

Forming an anonymous trust or just a trust in general should probably be on the top of everyone's list of things to do prior to reaching retirement age.

 

[r3volution 3.0]

I can appreciate her concern, but comon, there are lots of very rich people (very much richer than her) who get by just fine under their real name. The real danger for lottery winners is that they waste the money, as by allowing others (like, for instance, lawyers...) to bleed them dry. What's more, this is a bit counterproductive if the goal was to stay out of the headlines, isn't it? I hadn't thought about this lottery since the day she won, until now.

 

[Sonny Tufts]

"The state allows people to form an anonymous trust, NewHampshire.com reported"

So basically in the rush to claim her prize, she forgot to protect herself and look in to her options. I think its probably a mistake most people make on a daily basis that only gets amplified in a case such as this.

The first thing that a winner of a huge prize like this one needs to do is to seek competent legal advice before signing anything. An attorney could have advised her to create a revocable trust with a bank as the Trustee so that a trust officer, not the lady, would be identified in the media as the claimant. True, the bank will charge a fee for this service, but it will be negotiable. Furthermore, the lady would likely need investment advice to handle that much money (even after taxes), so she would be paying trustee fees in any event.

 

[Sonny Tufts]

I can appreciate her concern, but comon, there are lots of very rich people (very much richer than her) who get by just fine under their real name.

But these people didn't get their wealth all of a sudden, and many of them have security personnel to screen people trying to get in touch with them. I seriously doubt that Warren Buffet or Bill Gates has to worry about people calling them or coming to their house looking for money.

The real danger for lottery winners is that they waste the money, as by allowing others (like, for instance, lawyers...) to bleed them dry.

The fee the lady would pay to have a lawyer set up a trust to collect the prize would be an incredibly small price to pay for privacy and anonymity.

 

[r3volution 3.0]

But these people didn't get their wealth all of a sudden, and many of them have security personnel to screen people trying to get in touch with them. I seriously doubt that Warren Buffet or Bill Gates has to worry about people calling them or coming to their house looking for money.

If she feels she needs private security (which strikes me as overkill), just move into a nice hotel until you get it set up.

The fee the lady would pay to have a lawyer set up a trust to collect the prize would be an incredibly small price to pay for privacy and anonymity.

It's too late for that, hence the lawsuit.

And now she's all over the national news, being discussed on RPF by you and I...

Again, I get where she's coming from, but this was a foolish thing to do IMO.