PARIS – Thieves used a stolen card to purchase a winning French lottery ticket worth 500,000 euros ($523,000). However, they disappeared before cashing in, and they are now among France’s most well-known fugitives.
According to police documents, the man whose card was stolen, Jean-David E., has offered to split the cash with the lucky winners. He also wants his wallet back.
Meanwhile, the thieves risk being arrested. As of Saturday, the state lottery operator, La Française des Jeux, or FDJ, reported that no one had submitted the ticket for cash.
Pierre Debuisson, Jean-David’s lawyer, told The Associated Press on Saturday that the story is incredible but true.
Jean-David discovered earlier this month that his backpack, which contained bank cards and other documents, had been stolen from his car in the southern city of Toulouse, according to his lawyer. When Jean-David asked his bank to block the card, he discovered it had already been used in a local shop.
At the shop, a vendor informed him that two apparently homeless men had used one of his cards to purchase the winning scratch-off ticket.
“They were so totally happy that they forgot their cigarettes and their belongings and walked out like crazy people,” Debuisson told me.
Jean-David filed a police report about the theft, but he is willing to withdraw it if the thieves come forward so that they can split the money, Debuisson said.
“No one would have won without them,” Jean-David stated on public broadcaster France-2.
According to the lawyer, prosecutors may try to seize the winnings, claiming that they were obtained illegally.
The lawyer issued a national appeal Thursday, urging the perpetrators to contact his office to reach an agreement.
“You risk nothing … we will share with you,” he assured us. “And you would be able to change your lives.”
The ticket would eventually expire, he warned.
“Time is working against us,” he explained.
