Scratch the ticket and get lucky: a prize of $270,000. However, he was unable to collect it.
A 28-year-old Algerian man has faced increasing difficulties in Belgium to claim the money he won in this lottery, as he buys a ticket and scratches it for prizes.
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Reason?: His undocumented status.
The prize is too big to pay in cash and the guy doesn’t have the papers he needs to open a bank account.
The winner doesn’t know what to do to claim his reward, which he claims he wants to use to build a new life into it Belgium.
“When I have the money, I will buy a place to live in Brussels. And maybe a car.” for the Belgian newspaper Heat Latest News The man, whose identity has not been revealed.
Problems
The 28-year-old does not have valid identity documents or a permanent place to live, according to Belgian broadcaster VRT.
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The man’s lawyer, Alexander Verstreet, said that since he could not open a bank account, the lottery company would not make the payment.
“We are looking for those documents that can prove his identity. He will have to contact his family in Algeria,” Verstreet told AFP.
A lottery spokesman did not specify to AFP the documents required to claim the prize.
A friend of the man who had the papers tried to claim the winnings on his behalf.
They went to the lottery headquarters in Brussels, a necessary measure for any prize worth more than 100,000 euros.
But the friend and two others who were with him were arrested because the authorities suspected they had stolen the winning ticket.
They were released after the winner clarified the situation.
The winning card is now in the hands of a court in Bruges.
Verstreet says the authorities have promised not to deport the man until he receives the prize money.
Belgian media reported that the winner left Algeria four months ago after traveling by boat to Spain. From there he crossed Spain and France on foot before reaching Belgium.
She wanted to go to the UK, but now says she prefers to stay in Belgium and hopes to start a family.
“I will also look for a wife,” he said. Heat Latest News. “But I will not find one with my money, but with my heart.”