An Algerian migrant living illegally in Belgium is struggling to claim a € 250,000 jackpot (£ 207,000) won with an erasure card after authorities insisted it could only be paid if he could prove his identity.
“My client is in an illegal situation, he has no documents and no bank account,” Alexander Verstrate, the 28-year-old’s lawyer, told AFP on Friday. “We are looking for those documents that can prove his identity. He will have to contact his family in Algeria.
Verstreet said the winning scratch card was currently being held by a court in Bruges after three friends tried unsuccessfully to claim it on behalf of his client.
The friends, also from North Africa, were detained overnight by police on suspicion of theft before being released when the real winner went out with his lawyer.
The winning ticket was bought a few weeks ago in Zeebrugge. The Belgian port city is a popular destination for migrants trying to reach England, secretly hidden in trucks or containers.
Verstrate said his client, who does not intend to apply for asylum to stay in Belgium, has received a promise from authorities that he will not be deported until he receives his award.
The prize is a jackpot from an erasure card sold for 5 euros, which offers a “one to 3.69 chance” of winning some kind of payout, according to the national lottery’s website.
The retailer who sold the ticket is prohibited from distributing such a prize in cash.
For every prize of more than 100,000 euros, the winner must go to the company’s headquarters in Brussels, said Jocke Vermoer, a spokesman for the national lottery, where the three friends of the winner went.
“The winner did not appear with us, we have not seen him, which blocks the procedure for awarding the prize at the moment,” said Vermoer.
It did not specify the conditions or nature of the documents required to make a profit.
“It’s in the hands of the Bruges prosecutor’s office,” she said.
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