Paris (AP) – Thieves used a stolen card to buy a winning French lottery ticket worth 500,000 euros ($ 523,000). But they disappeared before they were cashed in- and now they are one of the most famous fugitives in France.
The man whose card has been stolen, identified in police documents such as Jean-David E., offers to split the money with the lucky winners. He also wants his wallet back.
In the meantime, the thieves run the risk of arrest. From Saturday, the Staatsloterij operator La Française des Jeux, or FDJ, said that nobody had submitted the ticket for cash.
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“It is an incredible story, but it's all true,” Jean-David's lawyer told Pierre Debuisson, to The Associated Press on Saturday.
Earlier this month, Jean-David discovered that his backpack was stolen from his car in the southern city of Toulouse, including bank cards and other documents, the lawyer said. Jean-David asked his bank to block the card and heard that it had already been used in a local store.
In the store, a seller told him that two apparently homeless men had used one of his tickets to buy the winning Scratch-off lottery ticket.
“They were so happy that they forgot their cigarettes and their possessions and walked away like crazy people,” Debuisson said.
Jean-David submitted a police complaint about the theft, but is ready to withdraw it when the thieves come to the fore so that they can share the money, Debuisson said.
“Without them, no one would have won,” said Jean-David on the public broadcaster France-2.
Public prosecutors can try to grab the win, given that they have illegally obtained profits, the lawyer said.
The lawyer launched a national profession on Thursday and asked the perpetrators to contact his office to close a deal.
“You risk nothing … we will share with you,” he said. “And you could change your life.”
The ticket will eventually expire, he warned.
“Time works against us,” he said.
