Thieves in Paris, France used a stolen bank card to buy a winning French lottery ticket, and it won 500,000 euros ($523,000). Now, the thieves have disappeared and are among France’s most famous fugitives. Here is what happened.
Thief
Jean-David discovered this month that his backpack had been stolen from his car in the southern city of Toulouse. In his backpack were bank cards and other documents. Jean-David asked his bank to block the card when he learned it had already been used in a local shop.
Actions
At the shop, a vendor told him two men who looked homeless had come in and used one of his cards to buy the winning scratch-off lottery ticket.
“They were so totally happy that they forgot their cigarettes and their belongings and walked out like crazy people,” the vendor said.
Dilemma
If the thieves cash the winning ticket, they will be apprehended for stealing the card. Otherwise, they do not claim the winnings. What are the thieves to do?
Rightful Owner
The man whose card was stolen is offering to split the cash with the lucky winners. As his card bought the winning lottery card, he expects some of the winnings. He also wants his wallet back.
The thieves, meanwhile, risk arrest. As of Saturday, the state lottery operator La Française des Jeux, or FDJ, said that no one had submitted the ticket to cash out the winnings.
″It’s an incredible story, but it’s all true,″ Jean-David’s lawyer, Pierre Debuisson, told The Associated Press on Saturday.
