Iowa Lottery

Lottery Provides Update Regarding Jackpot-Winning Hot Lotto Ticket; In-Person Meeting With Trust Reps Still Anticipated

DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Iowa Lottery provided the following updates Thursday regarding the on-going claim process for the jackpot-winning Hot Lotto ticket presented just before it would have expired Dec. 29:

• The winning ticket has been validated, but the prize-claim process as a whole continues.
• A review by Lottery Security at the time the ticket was presented confirmed that it is the valid jackpot-winning ticket purchased in Des Moines in December 2010.
• The winner has 60 days to decide whether to claim the prize as cash or annuity. However, if the winner or winners have not made the choice by 4 p.m. on Feb. 27, the prize automatically becomes an annuity that will be paid in 25 equal installments.
• The ticket was signed by only one person: Crawford Shaw as the trustee for Hexam Investments Trust.
• The Lottery continues to look into the many reports it has received from individuals who each allege that the jackpot-winning ticket was stolen from them. This case serves as an important reminder to sign your lottery tickets so they are identified as belonging to you. Here's a new catch phrase: Buy the ticket, sign the ticket!
• Hexam Investments Trust owns the ticket. The members of the trust have yet to be identified and we do not yet know what information we will learn about them. Crawford Shaw has stated that he is the trustee, but is not a prize winner.
• Crawford Shaw has been quoted in the media as stating that he would provide further details this week here in Iowa, but a specific meeting has not yet been set with the lottery. Mr. Shaw has indicated he will come to Iowa soon.
• The prize has not yet been paid but the lottery anticipates it will be paid once the determination can be made that the ticket was legally purchased, legally possessed and legally presented.
• The Lost Property and Bearer Instrument laws are being reviewed for clarification.
• A situation like this is unprecedented in the lottery's 26-year history, so we do not know how long it will take to be resolved. We're just as curious as everyone else to learn the details so the prize can be paid.

The jackpot-winning ticket from the Hot Lotto drawing on Dec. 29, 2010, was presented at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Des Moines with less than two hours to go before it would have expired.

The ticket was presented by two lawyers from the Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts law firm in Des Moines on behalf of Hexam Investments Trust, with Crawford Shaw of Bedford, N.Y., as the trustee. No representative of the trust was present.

The Iowa Lottery has been contacted by multiple people who each allege that the winning ticket was stolen from them. The Iowa Lottery continues to look into all of the claims.