NY Attorney Withdraws Last-Minute Claim to $7.5M Iowa Lottery Jackpot
A New York lawyer who submitted a winning $7.5 million Iowa lottery ticket by overnight delivery, with the help of a local law firm, has withdrawn his claim to the prize after officials demanded he prove ownership.
However, Crawford Shaw’s decision not to seek payment doesn’t resolve all questions concerning the situation, which lottery officials describe as the strangest they have encountered, reports the Associated Press.
Shaw, 76, who said he had submitted the ticket to the Davis Brown Law Firm on behalf of a trust in which he doesn’t have an ownership interest, told officials in a fax he submitted via the Des Moines firm that he doesn’t know who owns the ticket and will not seek payment.
Lottery officials have asked the state attorney general and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation to look into the matter.
