Thread: Ghanaian illegal Immigrant Wins $213 Million

Ghanaian illegal Immigrant Wins $213 Million

GhanaWeb

"I want to share the money with my fellow countrymen"



Springfield, MD (GMA) - A Ghanaian illegal immigrant in the United States has won $213 Million in the world's largest-ever lottery jackpot.

Kojo Ntow Ayensu was one of three winners that shared the $640 million world record-breaking Mega Millions jackpot.

Around 7:15 p.m. Friday night, Ayensu came to a 7-Eleven store in Baltimore, Maryland, and paid $1 for a "quick pick" of one line of numbers -- which ended up exactly matching those pulled.

The trained teacher, who was laid off last week from his security guard job, said that he was initially scared to come forward, saying he felt like "a field mouse" as hawks circled overhead.

When journalists descended on his house, the 41-year-old from Sekondi-Takoradi (a town in Ghana’s western region) said "It's just unbelievable.”

When asked what he intends to do with the money, he said

“I want to share the money with my relatives, friends and fellow countrymen in need...ask them to register at this site if they need help

Source: Ghanaian illegal Immigrant Wins $213 Million

ADDED TO ALIPAC HOMEPAGE NEWS with amended title ..

http://www.alipac.us/content/ghanaia...3-million-326/

I thought one had to be a LEGAL resident of the U.S. in order to claim any lottery win. Has that changed?

Also, there's this...........(another 'immigrant', status unspecified, in Maryland claims she won. ???)


Mega Millions Mystery: Maryland woman claims to have $105M ticket, but no one's come forward


Published April 02, 2012
| FoxNews.com

Maryland has a Mega Millions mystery on its hands.


A McDonald's worker claims to have one of the three winning tickets selected in Friday's drawing, but a Maryland lottery official told FoxNews.com early Monday that no one has produced the winning ticket. Making matters even murkier, the woman later seemed unsure if her numbers matched the $656 million jackpot.
"We have nothing to substantiate anything," said Carole Everett, a spokeswoman's for Maryland Lottery. "We're getting no calls."


Each one-third share of the record-breaking prize is worth $105 million after taxes, and officials have said winners were drawn in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland. Neither of the other two winning ticket holders has stepped forward, either.


"We can't wait to greet the winner of this world-record setting jackpot," said Maryland Lottery Director Stephen Martino. That ticket was purchased at a 7-Eleven in Milford. The McDonald's worker who claims to hold the ticket, Mirlande Wilson, 37, has said she bought tickets for 15 co-workers, but that the winner was bought separately and she won't share the money.


“We had a group plan, but I went and played by myself. [The ‘winning’ ticket] wasn’t on the group plan,” McDonald’s “winner’’ Mirlande Wilson 37, told the New York Post, insisting she alone bought one of the three tickets nationwide that will split a record $656 million payout.


The Haitian immigrant and single mother of seven said she plans to come forward with it today. But she was already backpedaling after first crowing about her newfound wealth and then alienating her co-workers.


“I don’t know if I won. Some of the numbers were familiar. I recognized some of [them],’’ she said. “I don’t know why’’ people are saying differently. “I’m going to go to the lottery office [today]. I bought some tickets separately.”


Kansas Lottery spokeswoman Cara Sloan-Ramos said Monday that no one has contacted the lottery about the prize from Friday's drawing. The winning ticket was purchased in northeast Kansas, though lottery officials don't plan to identify the store until the winner comes forward. Kansas law gives a prize winner a year to claim a jackpot, and it allows winners to remain anonymous. The $218 million prize must be claimed either at the Kansas Lottery's headquarters in Topeka or at its regional office in Great Bend.


FoxNews.com's Joshua Rhett Miller and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read more: Mega Millions Mystery: Maryland Woman Claims To Have $105M Ticket, But No One's Come Forward | Fox News

Originally Posted by florgal

I thought one had to be a LEGAL resident of the U.S. in order to claim any lottery win. Has that changed?

Also, there's this...........(another 'immigrant', status unspecified, in Maryland claims she won. ???)

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Hope you're sitting down ..

Illegal Immigrant Allowed To Collect Winning $750,000 Lottery Ticket


Houston County Jurors Rule In Favor of Jailed Undocumented Immigrant in $750K Lottery Dispute

41nbc.com
Written by Andrew Reeser

(video at source)

HOUSTON COUNTY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) - A Houston County jury rules in favor of a jailed illegal immigrant in a battle over a $750,000 lottery ticket.



Tony Cua-Toc smiled as he entered the courtroom Thursday after winning a case that attorneys thought would go the other way.

"Obviously we're disappointed in the jury's verdict," says the defendant, Erick Cervantes's attorney Kelly Burke. "I have nothing but respect for the jury system but we thought we proved quite convincingly that Mr. Cua-Toc's story didn't make sense."

It all started back in November of 2010, when Cua-Toc claimed to have won $750K after playing the Georgia Lottery; but Erick Cervantes claimed the money as his because Cua-Toc could not provide the proper documentation when he won; so Tony Cua-Toc filed a lawsuit, and a judge ordered the funds frozen.

"Once he filed his lawsuit, we quit spending any of the money," says Burke.

Cua-Toc is serving time in the Houston County jail for drunk driving-- and he is an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala; but under Georgia law, that does not really matter with regards to playing the lottery.

"Georgia law does not prohibit the sale of a lottery ticket to a foreign national," affirms Cua-Toc's attorney, Charles Adams, III. "The only person who can't buy a lottery ticket is somebody under 18."

Burke tells 41NBC he thought his witnesses' arguments would be enough to win the case; but it was one piece of evidence that seemed to sway the jury in Cua-toc's favor. Video surveillance at the O.M. Food Mart in Warner Robins in November 2010 shows an ecstatic Tony Cua-Toc after learning he won the lottery.

But Cervantes and his wife Sonia, who recently divorced, claim Cua-Toc threatened to kill them and their children if they did not turn over the money. Adams says these claims are false, and founded in the defendant's "dishonest behavior."

The jury deliberated for about 40 minutes following Adams's and Burke's closing arguments. When Judge George Nunn read the verdict, Cua-Toc grinned from ear to ear. Cervantes sat with no expression, and his ex-wife, Sonia Cervantes, who was visibly upset, left the courtroom. Erick Cervantes would later say on the witness stand she became ill, but she returned shortly thereafter.

During cross examination to determine if punitive damages would be awarded to Cua-Toc, Adams argued Erick Cervantes spent more than $200,000 thousand of the winnings.

"This is your opportunity to send a message...that we will not tolerate this type of behavior," Adams told jurors as they were about to determine punitive damages. He repeatedly said the defendants "stole" the money from Cua-Toc, and had a "grand time" with it.

Cervantes's attorneys told the jurors, "Please don't pile on him," saying they respected the jury's decision, and citing the fact that Cervantes has three children for which to provide.

Jurors met for nearly an hour after hearing the attorneys' closing arguments. Their verdict was that Cua-Toc should be awarded $25,000 in punitive damages.

"I do think the jury's verdict speaks to what witnesses they believed and didn't believe," says Adams.

Burke tells 41NBC he will talk to his client about an appeal of today's decision. 41NBC asked attorneys if Tony Cua-Toc will be deported back to Guatemala, but they declined to comment. If Cervantes appeals, Cua-Toc may have to stay in the U.S. Burke says it is too early to decide if he is going to appeal the jury's verdict.