A trail is underway in the case of a New Jersey construction worker who is being sued by his former co-workers after cashing in a $38.5 million lottery ticket.
Americo Lopes and five co-workers participated in a weekly lottery pool starting in 2007 where they worked at Berto Construction, according to the New Jersey Star-Ledger.
Each participant contributed $2 to the pool and Lopes would buy the tickets. Lopes also played the lottery independently from the pool.
On November 10, 2009, two winning Mega Millions tickets were claimed from a $77 million jackpot, one of which Lopes had, leaving him with $38.5 million. He chose a lump sum and received $24 million after taxes.
Two days later, Lopes allegedly told his boss he needed foot surgery and would be back in the spring. In March, he said he had won the lottery and would not be returning to work, reports the Star-Ledger.
After co-workers were initially happy for Lopes, co-worker Candido Silva Sr. discovered online the date of Lopes win matched a date the group pooled tickets.
"I froze," Silva told the Star-Ledger. I didn't want to believe that these were the dates we were playing together."
A lawsuit was filed in April 2010 by Silva Sr. accusing Lopes of fraud and asking for $4 million for each pool participant.
The trial started Tuesday in Elizabeth, N.J., and is reliant on witnesses — there are no copies of the alleged tickets.
The defense argued Lopes purchased the ticket by himself, not with the group and the dates are a coincidence. The co-workers attorneys argued Lopes allegedly never received foot surgery and never told co-workers he won, reports the Star-Ledger.
For the co-workers to be successful, they are going to have to establish what the normal situation was for purchasing tickets, Florida lawyer Tom Culmo told ABC News. Culmo has experience in lottery cases and is currently handling one right now.
"I would look historically in what those people would contribute towards the pot to purchase the tickets normally done in the past, if it was routine for the lottery tickets to be purchased in a particular place and particular day," he said.
Culmo said his approach would be to demonstrate that it wouldn't make sense Lopes was buying the ticket for himself that day, and getting sworn statements from those involved in the situation and store workers where the ticket was purchased about the routine.
"Ultimately, the result will be determined by a jury or a judge...who decides who will win, will look at the entirety of the situation, what really makes the most sense here," he said. "If they are all believable people and their stories all match and mesh, the person who is trying to say I'm not sharing, anybody looking at that scenario, that doesn't make a lot of sense."
Candido Silva Jr., Carlos Fernandes, Daniel Esteves and Jose Sousa are also listed on the suit on the plaintiff side, according to New Jersey court records.
The New Jersey State Lottery offers guidelines for participating in office pools to avoid discrepancies, suggesting players get the names and phone numbers of everyone involved, especially individuals in charge of purchasing tickets as well as who is holding them. Also know where your tickets are being purchased and get copies of your tickets prior to the lottery drawing, including the serial numbers on the back of the tickets.
The current Mega Millions jackpot in New Jersey is $200 million.
I would have had him text me the numbers before each drawing so I would have proof.
Stay away from LOTTERY POOLS It's a recipe for disaster and someone always DROWNS.
If you insist, buy together. If that isn't feasible have the team leader scan the tickets and e-mail them along with the receipt and some notation in the body of the e-mail acknowledging that these number were pruchased on behalf of a,b,c who are current members of the xyz pool having agreed to share equally any winnings from x drawing...etc, etc
The empirical reason to NEVER play the lottery with a pool!
LAWYERS!
I am going to win my jackpot by myself ..... no lottery pools ............
When I win on Friday ............ it will just be for my little family ........... $94,510,000 after 35% Federal Taxes ...........
Going Green the right way ..............
every good Bentley deserves a lottery winner!
Anybody wanna start a lottery pool?
The NY Post is reporting Mr. Lopes lost and must fork over $4M to each of his former co-workers.
You never know what a jury will do!The best thing to do is NOT to be a member of a lottery pool.You can take all sorts of precautions and have all sorts of documentation but you will be at the mercy of a jury.Lottery pools are BAD NEWS!
Yep, I agree.
I would have to lean towards establishing a set of rules and guidelines with signatures for participation and sharing of the moneys won...or have only 1 friend you could 110% trust..or as some have suggested, "stay away" from the pool altogether.
Trust but Verify !!!
a reason to say NO to the lottery pool from work
A lottery pool is fine if rules are made and followed to the letter. One rule for sure -all participants must get copies of the tickets BEFORE the draw and everyone must pay everytime.
LOL.....
Yep
No I'm serious. Just give me the money up front. When the winning ticket comes up I'll be long gone in touch with you, too give you your share!
I betcha the lawyers hit the jackpot too.
I'll bet his former co-workers would like to offer him some foot surgery right about now.
All they need is the winning ticket and records of any tickets bought right before and right after (which the lottery should have). If it's the 6th ticket in a string of 12 ... busted!
Trust but verify. Had they verified their combinations before the drawings instead of just trusting a co-worker to tell them the results after the drawings, this mess could have been avoided.
Players who buy tickets for themselves and a pool should insist on this policy because some people join a pool thinking if anyone in the pool ever wins a case can be made for them sharing with the pool even if their winning ticket wasn't bought for the pool.
Yep. I always let out a big sigh when I read that a lawyer "has experience in lottery cases."
I run the lottery pool at my place of employment. I have a 9x12 envelope that stays on the file holder on my office door. Everyone puts in their own money and then signs the envelope. I buy the tickets the day of the drawing, scan them, and then send everyone an email with the scanned copy of the tickets. Then the tickets get locked in a safe.
If we win money that is more than the group put in for tickets, it is divided up. Anything less goes back in for the next drawing. Also, the winnings that are put back in do not count towards an individuals play for the next drawing. Example, this last draw we won $7, but we spent $40 (there were 20 people). Everyone's share would be .35, but since it is less than the $2 it goes back in and you still have to put your $2 in for the next drawing, the .35 does not count individually.
I do not buy my tickets the same day as the drawing and when I do, its not at the same place that I buy for the group.
I would think a little research would show exactly when and where the winning ticket was purchased in this case. If the winning ticket was not purchased at the same place at the same time as the rest of them, the guy is in the clear, IMO. But, it certainly looks sneaky the way he did it.
Pools are only good for swimming!
Not in a pool at this time,
and have no desire to be in one since joining LP but,
Your system sounds like one the best i've heard of,
and buying your personel ticket on a different day,
at a different place makes it cut and dry.
I always thought about joining a pool, but this case is making me think otherwise. Unless you are the one running it, you really have to put your trust into people. That guy seems like he was willing to reall jip 5 people out of their fair share of the money. How can someone who just got sooo lucky by winning the lotto want to bring such bad karma back to them by doing something like that?
I like your methododology, it is very well done and well thought out.
I like your methodology, it is very well done and well thought out. A template for any lottery pools anyone wants to start.
The VERDICT is in! Jury says SHARE THE WIN
let me get that for you.....
Thanks for the kind words! I didn't want there to be any possible confusion. I send emails out to everyone in the office announcing the next drawing and emails only to the ones that got in after I get the tickets, that way no one can say they didn't know about it.
Thanks for the reply! I have tried to remove the responsibility of collecting money from myself and putting the onus on everyone else because if they want to get in, they will make the effort to get the $2 in for the drawing. It's getting to be a bit of a joke because now some get in because they "don't want to be the only idiot left working". It has raised the moral some around the office.