Homeless people who won €500,000 with stolen credit card offered half the reward

It’s not an orthodox decision, but for the owner of a stolen credit card that was used by a pair of homeless people to buy a lottery ticket that fetched a €500,000 reward, it’s not a complicated choice.

Man gets car burglarized, and credit card used to buy a €500K winning lottery ticket

Either forfeit the money or split it with the people who burglarized his car, stole his documents, and ran a €52.50 tab at a newsagent store, only to buy a scratch-off ticket and fetch the potentially life-changing six-figure sum.

The victim’s car was vandalized in the center of Toulouse, France, as reported by Le Parisien, a French media outlet. The people were quickly identified, although the police were not able to locate them.

In any case, a pair of homeless people were able to break into the car and steal the victim’s wallet, including his credit card and identity documents. In doing so, they decided to quickly spend some money nearby at around 3 pm that very same day, helping police identify when the actual theft took place.

Jean-David, which is the only name given to the victim by the publication, was keen to at least try and look up his identity documents, so he followed up with the newsagent where the perpetrators were known to have spent the money.

An interesting discovery was made at that point. The pair had bought a scratch-off card indeed and immediately found out that it had fetched 500,000, prompting them to swiftly demand from the shop owner to fulfil the award, and they would have succeeded had it not been for the way the lottery actually worked.

Why not come to a friendly arrangement?

To collect a prize, you need to contact the game’s owner, or in this case, Française des Jeux. Dispirited, the pair left the shop and has not returned since, but for Jean-David the case is clear.

The perpetrators will not be able to collect the reward because every relevant party was informed, and even though they may still have the victim's identity papers, the lottery is likely to know which ticket has been bought and what prize has been won, and therefore be able to tell anyone trying to collect the prize, not to mention that Jean-David has already raised the profile of the case enough to make it in the national press.

What could then be done? Jean-David has offered the homeless people a way around it all – arguing that he would split the prize if they returned and mustered the ticket. Jean-David’s lawyer, who spoke to another newspaper, said that Française des Jeux should not cancel the ticket either, arguing that it was "out of the question."

Why not come to a friendly arrangement, Jean-David’s lawyer urged the culprits, although it’s not clear if the two men would be willing to come forward, as they may and will most likely still be charged, even if the victim refuses to press charges.

Image credit: Unsplash.com