Rightful Winner Of £2.4 Million Lottery Can Finally Claim Prize After Ticket Was Stolen

The rightful winner of a £2.4 million lottery has finally collected his prize over six months after purchasing the ticket, after two shop workers tried to cash in the winnings themselves...

Paul Little purchased two Mega Millions Quick Picks and two Mass Cash tickets from Lakeville Market & Liquors in Massachusetts back in January, but left behind his winning tickets after paying for his shopping, later going on to conclude that he had simply lost them.

But shop worker Carly Nunes and her colleague Joseph Reddem nabbed the left behind tickets, later discovering that Little's numbers had come up and the ticket was in fact a winning one.

After discovering they were in possession of a winning ticket, Nunes and Reddem came up with a plan to steal the winnings, attempting to cash it in at their local lottery headquarters.

But employees at the headquarters became suspicious of the pair initially due to the fact that the ticket had been torn up and had burn marks on it, which was only later amplified when Nunes and Reddem were caught arguing on CCTV.

Surveillance footage allegedly showed Reddem making extortion demands of the jackpot, with Nunes responding that she would “only pay him $200,000.”

Officials questioned their claim to the prize and began investigating, going on to discover that it was in fact Mr Little who had purchased the winning ticket.

After interviewing Nunes and presenting their evidence, she finally admitted to not purchasing the winning ticket herself.

Lottery officials then launched a search to locate Little, the rightful winner of the £2.4 million prize.

Almost a month after he had purchased the ticket, Little was located and interviewed by investigators. On Friday 30th June, he was finally able to claim his winnings, revealing that he planned to spend the money on paying off his mortgage and donating some of it to charity.

Speaking to the local press about the ordeal, Little said: “I’ve got to say, I’m pretty excited today because it’s real today with the check in hand.

"It really gave me a greater appreciation for what the Mass Lottery does as far as making sure the rightful people get the award.

“I can’t say enough for all the people who helped me get to this point.”

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