After an alleged straw-man scheme was exposed, a $30,000 Iowa Lottery winner had their prize ripped away from them.
Sandra Jean Crow thought she was walking into an enormous fortune. But officials took it away from her after an argument revealed that the owner of the money is actually another person.
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The court documents seen by The Courier state.
His winnings would be taken from him because he was worried about outstanding payments. He owed $919 to the City of Evansdale.
Larsen, 45 years old, convinced Crow, to take the money in place of him, and gave her a piece of the pie to make his scheme work.
Police said that Crow accepted the lump-sum payment of $21,300 and laughed with the massive novelty check.
But a few weeks later, the situation changed when police were summoned to their home to deal with a major argument.
Evansdale police discovered Larsen, who lived with Crow in the same house as Larsen, packing up all his things to leave.
According to court records, officers who responded heard an argument about what the couple planned to do with their winnings.
I cashed in the ticket. Crow told police that she was not entitled the money.
He begged me not to make him pay for any debts he had.
Larsen said: “Ya. It’s a fraud.” She’s saying that I won.”
Crow allegedly then changed her story, claiming that she was given the ticket as a present.
According to court documents, Larsen insisted that it wasn’t an act of generosity and acknowledged they tried to maximize how much they would receive.
He claimed that the argument broke out when he did not get his agreed upon share.
Both Crow, and Larsen were charged with lottery scamming. Crow has been released under bond, while Larsen’s bail was set to $5,000.
The U.S. Sun could not immediately locate a plea.
Edwin Castro, the historic Powerball prize winner has recently been involved in a court battle over his $2.4 billion ticket.
A lawsuit filed in Alhambra Superior Court in February by Jose Rivera claims that he stole the ticket from the plaintiff.
Rivera is suing Castro, his former landlord Urachi F. Romero who is known as Reggie, and the California Lottery Commission, among others.
He alleged that he was the one to buy the ticket from Joe’s Service Center in Altadena and subsequently lost it.
Rivera claimed Romero took the ticket but refused to return, claiming he’d lost it.
Romero told Rivera, in accordance with court documents, that they could divide the money if Romero eventually found it.
Romero has denied the claims made in an interview. New York Post Late May is the best time to buy.
California Lottery still stands by its decision to award Castro the winnings despite all the issues.
On July 24, the Alhambra Courthouse will host a conference on case management and a hearing to prove service.