Saturday, November 23

Due to lack of papers, Mexican immigrant cannot collect prize from California Lottery


Por falta de papeles, inmigrante mexicano no puede cobrar premio de Lotería de California
The California Lottery issued a check for $ 80, 000 in favor of the undocumented winner.

Photo: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images / Getty Images

Due to the lack of papers , a Mexican immigrant has not been able to collect a California Lottery prize that you won nine months ago and you have less than three days to get the money.

The afternoon of 30 October 2020, the man, originally from Oaxaca, bought two “scratch-off” tickets in a commercial place, one for 5 dollars and another for 10 dollars, and realized that he had won $ 750, 000 .

“At that moment I felt happy and at the same time Tears came down, “said the immigrant, who requested anonymity, in an interview with Univisión .

As the euphoria passed, the lucky man began to worry about how you could collect the prize due to your status as undocumented.

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Complicates collection for bad advice

By following the advice of some acquaintances , it was complicated even more the possibility of obtaining the money due to a police investigation by the California Lottery.

The first impulse was to give him the winning ticket to another person to claim the payment, but that action led to the lottery initiating an investigation, which delayed the payment for months .

After months of investigation, the California Lottery finally wrote a check in favor of the immigrant for $ 80, 000 , after the respective discount for state taxes.

You need to open a bank account

However, the individual cannot collect the money because does not have a passport or consular registration, and the check expires on 30 of July.

Due to the lack of documentation, the immigrant cannot open an account in a banking institution , necessary procedure to collect the prize.

The support of officials of the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles so that the man from Oax Here you can obtain the immigration documents that identify you to later request your consular registration and thus be able to open a bank account.

The California Lottery clarified that they do not take into account the immigration status of a winner , but they do require, by law, to verify that the prize is delivered to the correct person.

Read more: A lottery player won $ 26 million dollars in Los Angeles, but you have only a few days left to claim them