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A New York
attorney's decision to withdraw his claim on a multimillion dollar Iowa
Lottery prize doesn't put to rest officials' questions about how he
obtained the ticket. Crawford
Shaw, of Bedford, N.Y., withdrew his claim Thursday on a multimillion
dollar Iowa Lottery prize just as mysteriously as he has made it, saying
through a Des Moines law firm that he couldn't satisfy lottery
officials' request for basic information about how he obtained the
winning ticket. The lottery has asked the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Iowa attorney general to investigate. Officials
say Shaw submitted the ticket for redemption on behalf of a trust on
Dec. 29, less than two hours before it expired, and has identified the
recipient only as a corporation in the country of Belize. The lottery
wants to know how Shaw obtained the ticket to make sure it wasn't stolen
and that a valid player bought it. It
has been 13 months since the winning ticket was purchased at a Des
Moines gas station in December 2010. The payout for the prize would have
been $7.5 million cash, or $10.3 million spread over 25 years after
taxes. Iowa lottery officials
had given Shaw until Friday to provide the identities and contact
information of anyone who purchased or possessed the ticket. Instead
of claiming the prize in person, as is normally done, Shaw signed the
ticket on behalf of the trust and shipped it by FedEx to a Des Moines
law firm he had retained. Shaw,
76, sent a fax to the law firm Thursday saying he doesn't know the
identity of the purchaser. The firm relayed the information to lottery
officials. Shaw, 76, sent a fax to the law
firm Thursday saying he doesn't know the identity of the purchaser. The
firm relayed the information to lottery officials.
"In
order that the claim be resolved without further controversy, Crawford
Shaw, as Trustee for and on behalf of the Trust, does hereby withdraw
the Claim and does hereby agree to take no further action to enforce the
Claim," the fax signed by Shaw reads. Shaw
signed the ticket on behalf of Bedford, N.Y.-based Hexham Investments
Trust, though lottery officials have said he misspelled the name of the
trust by leaving off the second "h." Shaw claimed not to be a
beneficiary of the trust. Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich said
Thursday that it's the strangest situation officials can recall in the
26-year history of the lottery. He declined to speculate on the details
of the claim, saying if he knew more than what's been released, lottery
officials would probably be writing a check to a winner. "I'm telling you, if I could take all of the suggestions, it would be a heck of a fun book," Rich said. He previously had said the lottery had received several claims that the ticket was stolen. Iowa law also prohibits employees and contractors of the lottery, their relatives and anyone younger than 21 from playing. Shaw
said Wednesday through the Des Moines-based Davis Brown Law Firm that
if the jackpot were paid, the money would be donated to charity. He
declined to comment further Thursday. Records
show Shaw played at least a minor role in the collapse of Industrial
Enterprises of America, a chemical company that was looted and
bankrupted in 2009 by a stock manipulation scheme. Shaw helped found the
company after taking control of a Houston-based shell corporation,
serving as its CEO from 2004 to 2005. Shaw's history also includes lawsuits alleging fraud in Delaware and Texas. The unclaimed money will go toward future prizes, Rich said. Source: ap
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