A Frenchman called upon two thieves who used his stolen credit card to buy a jackpot winner card to come forward, promising to divide the price of € 500,000 (£ 413,664) with them.
Presenting himself as Jean-David E, the man told RTL Radio that since the money would otherwise be seized by the authorities, he sought to conclude an agreement with the thieves.
“Without me, they would not have won, but without them, I would not have bought this post. I want to offer them to share the gains,” said the Toulouse resident.
No one has so far presented the winning ticket, which has been blocked by French Games (FDJ), the operator of the National Lottery of France, according to Jean-David.
Jean-David discovered that his backpack containing his portfolio had been stolen in his car parked in the center of Toulouse on February 3.
After calling for his bank to block his credit card, he discovered that € 52.50 (£ 43.47) had been spent via contactless payment in tobacco in the thermal baths, a nearby corner store. Jean-David went to the store to see if the staff had seen something suspect or if one of his personal effects had been abandoned in the shop.
“My client spoke to the cashier and discovered that two men who seemed homeless used his credit card to buy cigarettes and several scratch cards,” said Pierre Debuisson, lawyer for Jean-David, at the BBC .
The two men told the cashier that they had won the € 500,000 jackpot on one of the cards and that they planned to go to FDJ to claim their winnings.
The cashier found the behavior of the two suspect men because they could not enter the spindle number of one of the cards with which they tried to buy, 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.
The police are now likely to grasp the gains and if the thieves approach the FDJ themselves, they are likely to be arrested, according to Jean-Davide.
The winners of scratch cards have 30 days from the date of purchase to claim their earnings, and for Jean-Davide and his improbable collaborators, the deadline is fast approaching.
His lawyer, Mr. Debuisson, proposed an amnesty: “My client was very happy to fly his credit card in these circumstances and therefore does not seek to continue. It is also a miraculous opportunity for these two men to build themselves A new life for themselves. “
“Unless they contact my lawyer, the ticket is unusable. So why not settle amicably and make fifty-fifty?”, Said Jean-David, 40, in RTL.
“For this amount of money, I am ready to conclude an agreement,” he added, explaining that he would use his share of earnings – € 250,000 (£ 206,988) – to help repay his mortgage.
FDJ and Toulouse police were approached to comment.
