Lotto: man gets 3 million euros - since then he sits in jail!

Lotto: Man gets three million euros – but he wasn’t lucky with it!

Lotto: These were the biggest winnings of all time in Germany

Who doesn’t dream of lottery millions?? This is how much money the biggest lottery winners in Germany have won.

He almost got it through! Edward Putman won in 2009 in the Lotto-Jackpot in England – he took home the equivalent of a whole three million euros. But the win had little to do with luck.

Today he is in prison. He cheated at the Lotto all along the line. For Putman it comes however still thicker. He may have to face further consequences.

Lotto: Fraudster captures 3 million – but then one comes to him on the clue

The story began in 2009. Edward Putman and his accomplice Giles Knibbs forged a lottery ticket with the winning numbers on it. Knibbs worked at the lottery, this is how they got the information.

A few months after the draw, Putman submitted the ticket, pretending he had lost it under the car seat. By chance, the control number had been torn off by it. The lottery accepted the ticket anyway.

Lotto cheat has the choice – money or freedom

Putman and Knibbs made a run for it. In 2019, the fraud was discovered and Edward Putman was sentenced to nine years in prison. The money is still missing. That’s why Putman sat in court again on Wednesday, as the British newspaper The Sun reports.

Lotto in Germany:

At the beginning of the 20. At the end of the 19th century, the state lotteries in the German Empire were merged into a smaller number of operators
in the Nazi period the right of approval of the states was transferred to the Reich treasurer
after the war, lottery systems were prepared in all occupation zones
the "supplementary number" was drawn on 17. June 1956 introduced
first TV broadcast of the draw on 4. September 1965
on 7. December 1991 the "super number" was introduced

With his loot he bought a property and several cars – the value: the equivalent of 1.1 million euros. All this lies fallow today. The public prosecutor’s office demands that Putman hand over his belongings as compensation. If he does not, the judge threatens, he must prepare for six additional years in prison.

Putman refuses for the time being, says his defense lawyer. Similar to 2019, at his first trial, he fights back. At the time, he denied the fraud in court, but was sentenced anyway. The judge at the time commented on the "elaborate, carefully planned and conscientiously operated fraud": "You would have gotten away with it, but quite obviously you were too greedy."

More topics about Lotto:

This is how the lottery scam blew up

In 2015, the dispute arose between Putman and his accomplice Knibbs. It was a question of how to divide the booty. Knibbs had a bad conscience anyway. The quarrel broke the camel’s back, Knibbs took his own life in the same year. Before that, however, he told friends about the scam. This is how Edward Putman was caught.

Putman was before its deception however no blank sheet. In 1991 he raped a 17-year-old girl and was imprisoned for seven years. In 2012, he obtained housing subsidies from the state in the amount of 15.000 euros. For this he got nine months.

Whether Edward Putman will do what the court demands and sell his property is still unclear. However, it is clear that he will not get free for a long time either way.

>> Editor’s note<<

Gambling can be addictive. If gambling behavior gets out of control and becomes a substitute for other personal problems, it can develop into pathological behavior or even gambling addiction. It is then no longer just about a spontaneous leisure activity, but the game then suddenly takes on alarming functions: the avoidance of fear, panic, depression and other negative feelings or the evasion of problems.

If you think you have a gambling addiction or know someone who does, you can get help. For this there is the free and anonymous hotline 0800/1372700. Further information on bzga.