Urachi F. Romero, one of the defendants in California for allegedly stealing José Rivera’s $2 billion winning ticket, said in an interview that he even allowed the latter to search his room and other parts of the house he rented to prove that he had not appropriated the ticket.
Romero, initially identified in the lawsuit as “Reggie,” gave his version of events in an interview with the New York Post over the weekend.
The Hispanic even shared a video with the media in which Rivera is seen inspecting his room. In the recording Rivera can be seen looking in drawers. Romero assured that Rivera, to whom he rented a room in his house, even checked a bible and found nothing.
“I let him check my things because I have nothing to hide,” the landlord declared.
Romero recounted that, at the end of last year, he rented a room on the property when the man was having financial difficulties.
As he added, before he lost the ticket, the relationship between the two was good to the point that Rivera, a “landscaper”, fixed the front patio of the property.
Romero insisted that the winning ticket for the largest amount in the history of the lottery in the United States was not stolen.
“I hope my name is cleared because it is very rare that I am in the middle of all this money, but I still have nothing. How do I steal a ticket that is worth billions of dollars and I don’t have one?”, the Hispanic asked.
Here you can see the video that shows José Rivera looking for the supposed winning ticket
He added that he does not know Castro, who the California Lottery publicly identified as the winner of the jackpot on February 14 and how the ticket came into Castro’s hands.
However, the interviewee said the ticket may have been taken by a friend of Rivera’s who was staying at the house before the draw and who took the tenant’s work pants the next morning. Supposedly, this person has a connection to the Castro family.
Romero revealed that Rivera showed him the ticket before the draw and asked him why he had selected number 10 twice.
“I saw José Rivera with that ticket … he showed it to me,” Romero said.
“I asked him why he chose 10 twice. He told me that this was the day both parents died. He chose 47 because that’s his age. He also said that his father always wanted a 1956 Chevy truck, so he selected 56. He had a reason for choosing each of the numbers and he told me that before (the drawing) ”, added the man.
Rivera alleges in the lawsuit filed on February 22 in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles that Urachi appropriated his ticket.
The specific circumstances are not detailed in the lawsuit, but the lawsuit states that it was before the November 8 drawing. Subsequently, Rivera’s lawyer, Estela Richeda, alleged in an interview with the aforementioned outlet that Urachi took it from a table and that after the draw he refused to return it. This last information is contained in the lawsuit.
Castro has made no public remarks about his win and the scope of the case.
Last week he filed a motion through his defense in which he alleges that the proof of service or the delivery of documents related to the case was given to his father, who has the same name; and not to him, as it corresponds.
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