52 minutes ago
The winner said that he will marry following receiving the prize
An Algerian who bought a €5 lottery ticket and won a quarter-million-euro prize is having trouble getting his prize.
It is not possible to pay the value of the prize in cash due to the large amount, while the winner does not have the documents necessary to open a bank account.
A friend of the winner’s attempt to claim the prize has been detained because authorities suspect he is a fraud.
The winner says he wants to use the prize money to build his life in Belgium.
“When I get the prize money, I will buy a house in Brussels and maybe a car,” the winner, whose identity was not revealed, told a local newspaper.
But first he has to find a way to get the money he won.
The 28-year-old does not have identification papers and does not have a fixed residence address, according to a local radio station.
Because the young man cannot open a bank account, the lottery company will not pay the amount, the winner’s lawyer, Eixander Verstrati, told AFP.
A spokesman for the lottery prize administration did not specify to AFP the necessary documents.
A friend of the winner, who has identification papers, tried to receive the money on his friend’s behalf by going to the main prize administration office in Brussels, but he and two other people were detained overnight because the authorities suspected they had stolen a lottery ticket, and then released them when the winner clarified the situation.
The lottery ticket has been deposited with a court, and the lawyer says the authorities have promised not to deport the winner until he receives his prize.
The winner had left Algeria four months ago by boat to Spain, according to Belgian media, and then went to Belgium via Spain and France on foot.
The young man wanted to travel to Britain, but now says he prefers to stay in Belgium, and hopes to marry and start a family.
“I will look for a wife, I will not look for her with my money, but with my heart,” he told the media.
