Jackpot Winner Ordered to Pay $20M to Co-Workers After Jury Rules He Swindled Them Out of Winnings
- Posted on March 15, 2012 at 11:23am by
Madeleine Morgenstern
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A New Jersey jury on Wednesday ruled lottery winner Americo Lopes must pay $20 million of his $38.5 million lottery jackpot to his former co-workers. (Image source: New Jersey Star-Ledger)
A New Jersey man must give up $20 million of his $38.5 million lottery jackpot after a jury ruled he swindled his former co-workers out of their fair share of the winnings.
Americo Lopes, 52, took home a $24 million post-tax payout after he cashed in a winning ticket in Nov. 2009, the New Jersey Star-Ledger reported. His co-workers — all construction workers from Portugal — sued, claiming the ticket was one they had purchased as part of a lottery pool. Lopes insisted the ticket was one he’d bought on his own and pointed to the winning numbers as proof, saying he only played the digits on tickets he purchased himself.
Lopes' former co-workers will each receive a payout from his $38.5 million jackpot. (Image source: New Jersey Star-Ledger)
In a unanimous decision, an eight-member jury disagreed and ruled each of the five plaintiffs be paid $4 million.
“They robbed me,” Lopes told the newspaper after the ruling.
The construction workers had testified that the group’s pool dated back to 2007. According to ABC News, each player would put in $2, and Lopes would buy the tickets. When the winning numbers matched one of the tickets Lopes held, he took leave from work, claiming he needed foot surgery. When he returned, he told his co-workers he’d won the lottery. One of the regular players got suspicious and looked up the date of Lopes’ win, only to find it had occurred the day they had all paid him money for tickets.
After the verdict, Eric Kahn, an attorney for the five men, told ABC his clients couldn’t quite believe the ruling.
“It feels good. The jury believed our clients. They are vindicated. I think they are still in some shock,” he said. “It hasn’t set in yet.”
“We trusted him,” 46-year-old Jose Sousa told the New York Times of Lopes. “He cheated us….We proved that we’re not lying. This is the most important thing.”
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charles1540
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 3:54pmHas`anyone heard of copy tickets that were`purchased and give copies to all participants.
Report Post »skyehawk
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 1:21pmLets see a guy is delegated to buy the lotto tickets , hes part of that pool …..if you want personal tickets outside the pool , let your wife / friend buy them …and tell the pool guys you have separate tickets on the same lotto …….He should have told his ‘pool’ after the #s were drawn that he won the lotto and showed them the tickets etc..and explain to them how the #s were diff from theirs ..(the Pool #s) …But NO he chose not to show up for work stay away for 2 or 3 weeks then surprise the pool with the news “he had won the lotto”…….You really can’t blame them for being a tad suspicious …or the JURY for not believing his **** & bull story ……
Report Post »kevinj319
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 6:41pmPerson who has the ticket should get the money. I don’t care who paid for it. Oh, you paid for half the ticket? Ok, here’s your $2 back.
Report Post »livinlavidaloca
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 7:02pmKevin,
Someone should give you half your brain back.
Report Post »the_truth_or_not
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 7:27amI really was not going to post to this article. Thank-you KEVINJ319.
Person who has the ticket should get the money. I don’t care who paid for it. Oh, you paid for half the ticket? Ok, here’s your $2 back.
If I may go out on a limb. This sounds like the thinking of OWS. I will venture into an agreement/contract verbal or otherwise. Once it no longer suites my needs, I will simply not honor my end of this agreement/contract (whether be it for a house, education or whatever).
Report Post »the_truth_or_not
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 7:38amI decided to add:
Report Post »The agreement/contract was between construction workers. Unless you are a architect or on the Corporate side of the Contracting agency, which this guy is more than likely not since his pool was with construction workers, $4million is more money than you would see in a life time. I know many of people in this honest respectable field. He!! I don’t even think I will come close to seeing this type of money (although I am aspiring too. Reach for the brass ring! expect the worst hope for the best). This man is most assuredly utterly greedy beyond nausea.
skyehawk
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 12:54pm@ kevin .<—–Idiot …….LOL @ livinloco ….of course your right on …..Imagine what kind of a friend Kevin would make ?
Report Post »Atrocities
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 4:58pmGood for them. I am glad they won. It is almost impossible to win these type of cases. I once bought into a raffle lottery with a friend. We won, but because he held the raffle ticket, he thought HE won. I paid for the ticket and he was suppose to pay me back… I sued, and thought I had lost but the judge ruled in my favor because my former friend admitted that he used MY money to buy the ticket. He appealed it but dropped it and after a year, a year of collections, paid me. Then promptly tried to sue me for something stupid and didn’t even notify me of it. Thankfully the court posts these things in the paper and my grandparents saw it and told me. I showed up in court and beat his ass a second time and even got the court to award me legal fees and court costs. He was so pissed. I am still waiting on that money. I had to renew the judgement against him this last year. I love screwing his credit. Its a kind reminder that he is a lying liberal thief. (And yes, he is a liberal too.)
Report Post »BonnieBlueFlag
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 1:18pmPinche frijolero.
Report Post »thejackal
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 12:19pmGood now send them all back to Portugal!
Report Post »I support God's Israel!
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 1:11pmPlease check this guy’s GREEN CARD.
Report Post »StopTheGroupThink
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 2:00pmYeah, cause none of the taxes or money is going to go back into our floundering economy. Man, you guys are bright.
Report Post »gr8t2bfree
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 11:27amThey should all be deported. They have no reason to be here now.
Report Post »StopTheGroupThink
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 2:02pmI can tell by your Jeff Dunham pic, that you’re a really deep thinker.
Report Post »UDOUDI
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 10:24amDoes he have a picture I.D.? Geeeeeeeeee…my bad.
Report Post »db321
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 11:41amMaybe we could get the UN involve.
Report Post »Tradman
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 8:24amThis stinks to the sky. Let’s see here, according to the article
1) The purchaser showed that his personal ticket was different from the pool ticket
2) The lawyer representing the other guys said he was suprised himself that the case was ruled in their favor
3) What was the status of these folks when the event occurred?- Were they US Citizens?
Sure, big deal he gives away (because that IS what is happening here) the majority of his winnings and he still has a few million left BUT this all adds up to mob entitlement mentality. What happened here is that you had a jury (from New Jersey, no less) that figured if they were in the same situation, they’d want to get a few million they didnt lawfully deserve either rather than siding on the side of common sense and law.
Report Post »JohnnyMidknight
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 9:02amThe morale of the story… it is okay to play the lottery, but beware when joining a pool and buying your own tickets at the same time.
Report Post »G-WHIZ
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 3:43pmWhat part of [his Private-winning-ticket] is different than the work-pool#…ah-1, ah-2, ah-3…Duh!!!!!!
Report Post »deano24
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 9:50pmMr. Americo Lopes should’ve bought his ticket the day before he bought the others tickets. If he would’ve done that, he could easily prove that his ticket was the winning ticket.
Report Post »ThoreauHD
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 8:07amWhy are people from other Countries allowed to play our Lottery? Why not have World Lotto instead of State.
Report Post »D-Fence
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 8:36am?And they’re filling construction jobs that citizen do not want?
Report Post »ChiefGeorge
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 9:15amAnother win for big government in a tax windfall from the other winners. His greed left him with nothing. No job to boot.
Report Post »P-Daddy
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 8:04amDo like we did, buy the tickets, make copies for EVERYONE in the pool, distribute the copies as needed. Butt protected.
Report Post »I support God's Israel!
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 1:17pmThe minute the scanned copy of number(s) reaches the recipients, whether by email or personally delivered, IT THEN BECOMES A LEGAL POINT. If that number(s) was NOT on the scanned copy, the group loses the claim. Stupid is as stupid does.
Report Post »AB5r
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 7:43amIf you buy separate tickets for yourself you have to buy them at a different location. Since all tickets are numbered you can show you bought X tickets for the pool at one time, and yours somewhere else.
Report Post »AB5r
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 7:42amThere was another case where one guy didn’t get in the regular pool they all played week after week, and they won that week. Did he deserve part of that pool? Maybe they gave him a small consolation prize. Ouch.
Report Post »hawkdoc60
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 6:24amThis is why I NEVER get involved in a pool. I have heard of coworkers suing lottery winners regardless of whether they are involved in a pool like this, or not. If I were to win, I would not let it be publicized, and I would likely not tell anyone, but abruptly quit my job.
Report Post »DividedWeFail
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 5:51amFox America Live talked about this case a week or so ago.
ALL OF THEM ARE ILLEGALS except the winner. They gave him the ticket because THEY COULD NOT CASH IT IN and it was ILLEGAL FOR THEM TO BUY A TICKET TO BEGIN WITH.
I hope they deport all 5 men and their families – BOOT!
Report Post »chips1
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 3:20pmSoooo!!!! Obama can’t buy a lottery ticket!!! Now, THAT”S funny!!!!
Report Post »sdarbro
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 3:23pmafter they spend the money, that is…
Report Post »EP46
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 5:44amDo they all still have their Union jobs ??
Report Post »DividedWeFail
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 5:52amAll 5 men are ILLEGAL ALIENS. They could NOT cash the ticket in so they gave it to their “Legal” friend. If I remember correctly from America Live lawyer discussion on this case last week, you cannot buy a ticket let alone cash it in IF YOU ARE AN ILLEGAL ALIEN.
Report Post »REPUB1
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 3:01amNO HABLA English then you DONT GET ANY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can they SPEAKA??
Report Post »LarryofArabia
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 2:12amAh, he’s a victim. Naturally. Thanks Barry.
Report Post »marcus_arealius
Posted on March 15, 2012 at 4:16pmThis should hammer home golden rules of lottery playing – NEVER have someone else buy a ticket for you, or buy one jointly, EVER. It would have been easy for this guy to have quietly cashed in. I don‘t know New Jersey’s rules but he may have the right to remain anonymous as far as being publicized as a winner. He could have quietly slipped away with the loot. Which brings up one other rule for all time – Keep your big mouth shut. For example if you are part of a pool and have the duty of buying the ticket(s), is it not possible for you to buy other tickets out of your own pocket? It would seem prudent for any pool to send at least 2 members to buy the ticket and both members make note of the selected numbers (one gets to hold the ticket of course). Or alternatively the buyer of the ticket must communicate the selected numbers to the pool prior to the drawing.
Perhaps this guy did get screwed. Maybe not.
Report Post »DividedWeFail
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 5:53amNEVER have someone else buy a ticket for you, or buy one jointly, EVER.
Report Post »_________
The 5 men are ILLEGAL ALIENS. They could NOT cash the ticket in. They had their friend do it.
deeberj
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 8:39amIf you are in a pool, the person buying the tickets brings them back to work and makes copies of all the tickets and distributes them to the participants. This way, everyone has a copy of the tickets they contributed towards BEFORE the lottery is drawn.
Report Post »girlnurse
Posted on March 15, 2012 at 3:57pmSounds “fishy” to me! Whats the big deal? Hes still a millionare! What a selfish sob. As Obama says; “The only people who lie are those who have something to hide”!
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on March 16, 2012 at 1:47amObama should know he’s lied countless times since he has been in office!
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on March 15, 2012 at 3:20pmI don’t know…..hmn
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