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A Frenchman has appealed to two thieves who used his stolen credit card to buy a winning scratch card to present themselves, promising to divide the € 500,000 prize (£ 413,664) with them.
Presenting as Jean-David E, the man told RTL Radio that, since the money would be seized by the authorities, he is looking to reach an agreement with the thieves.
“Without me, they would not have won, but without them, I would not have bought this ticket. I want to offer you to share the profits,” said Toulouse resident.
Until now, no one has presented the winning ticket, which has been blocked by Française des Jeux (FDJ), the operator of the National Lottery of France, according to Jean-David.
Jean-David discovered that his backpack containing his wallet had been stolen from his car parked in the center of Toulouse on February 3.
After calling his bank to block his credit card, he discovered that € 52.50 (£ 43.47) had been spent through a contactless payment in Termes, a nearby corner store. Jean-David went to the store to see if the staff had seen something suspicious or if any of their belongings had been abandoned in the store.
“My client spoke with the cashier and discovered that two men who seemed to be homeless used their credit card to buy cigarettes and several scratch cards,” said Jean-David’s lawyer, Pierre Debuisson, to the BBC.
The two men told the ATM that they had won the prize of May 500,000 on one of the cards and were planning to go to FDJ to claim their profits.
The ATM found the behavior of the two suspicious men, since they could not enter the pin number of one of the cards with which they tried to make the purchase, according to Jean-David.
After his conversation with the cashier, Jean-David contacted the local police who in turn contacted the FDJ to alert the game company.
It is likely that the police take over the profits and if the thieves approach the FDJ themselves, they are likely to be arrested, according to Jean-Davide.
The winners of the Scratch card have 30 days from the date of purchase to claim their profits, and for Jean-Davide and their unlikely collaborators, the deadline is quickly approaching.
His lawyer, Mr. Debuisson, proposed an amnesty: “My client was very happy to steal his credit card in these circumstances and, therefore, does not seek to prosecute. This is also a miraculous opportunity for these two men to Build a new life for themselves. “
“Unless they communicate with my lawyer, the ticket is unusable. So why not establish themselves friendly and make fifty and fifty?”, A RTL, 40, said Jean-David.
“For that amount of money, I am ready to reach an agreement,” he added, explaining that he would use his share of the profits, € 250,000 (£ 206,988), to help pay for his mortgage.
The FDJ and Toulouse police have been contacted to comment.
