The California Lottery stands by its position that Edwin Castro is the rightful winner of the $2 billion Powerball drawn last November despite another Hispanic lawsuit alleging that his ticket was stolen.
In a lawsuit filed last month in Los Angeles County Superior Court, José Rivera alleges that he was the one who bought the ticket containing the six winning figures for the largest prize in the history of the United States lottery on November 7.
As stated in the legal appeal, a man only identified as “Reggie” stole Rivera’s ticket. The circumstances of the alleged robbery and the relationship between the parties are not clear. The document indicates that, although Rivera asked him multiple times to return the ticket – even after the draw – Reggie kept the ticket. Among the alleged excuses that he gave for not returning it to the alleged buyer were that they were not the winning numbers and that, if he found the ticket, they would share the prize 50/50.
Both Reggie and Castro are listed as defendants for damages in addition to the California Lottery. There is also no knowledge of the relationship between the supposed winner announced by the Lottery with the other two men.
In the lawsuit, the entity is requested not to disburse the prize money until the lawsuit is resolved in court.
Despite the litigation, the California Lottery yesterday insisted that Castro is the legitimate winner of the funds, as they had announced at a press conference on February 14 in which the winner was not present.
When it comes to the vetting process for grand winners, the California Lottery has the utmost confidence in their process to do so,” Carolyn told ABC News on Monday.
Becker, the entity’s spokesperson. “The California Lottery remains confident that Edwin Castro is the correct winner of the $2.004 million prize derived from the November 2022 Powerball drawing,” she said.
State law and order authorities have not reported whether they began an investigation into the facts. But, among other things, the complaint in Court asks investigators to review the videos of Joe’s Service Center, in Altadena, to corroborate that it was Rivera who bought the winning ticket.
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