After almost four years of legal battle, a man from the Verona area received the two million euros he won in an Italian scratch card. He was taken to court by two of his friends, who accused him of buying a ticket with him and demanding a division of the winnings. The winner was cleared of theft and fraud.
According to the daily “La Repubblica”, in February 2021, a worker won EUR 2 million in the game “Gratta e Vinci” (i.e. scratch and win) in Garda.
The payment of the winnings was blocked by two of his colleagues from the construction site, who claimed that they had bought the lucky ticket of a special edition of the game for 20 euros together, and therefore the huge sum should be divided among the three of them.
They were supposed to use common coupons, and one of them turned out to be the winnerEyesonmilan/Shutterstock
He didn't want to share the winnings
They accused their 43-year-old friend of trying to misappropriate money and fraud.
In court, both of them explained that they each gave him 40 euros to buy a total of 6 coupons. When he bought them himself and scratched them off, he notified them that he had won. However, as the two men argued, he did not come to the notary to formalize everything.
The accused explained, however, that the possibility of giving them some of the money was an “offer and a gift” on his part. However, in the face of the increasingly persistent insistence of his colleagues, he decided not to give them anything and leave all the winnings to himself.
Court verdict
The judge agreed with him and acquitted him, arguing that he actually bought the ticket himself and was therefore not obliged to divide the winnings. The verdict, as the newspaper noted, was handed down in September last year, but only recently, after almost four years, was the man able to collect his winnings.
Main photo source: Eyesonmilan/Shutterstock