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23rd February 2025
04:51pm GMT
A Frenchman has appealed to two thieves who used his stolen credit card to purchase a jackpot-winning scratch card to come forward, promising to split the £400,000 prize with them.
Jean-David E, from Toulouse, is seeking to strike a deal with the two men who bought the winning ticket using his card at a local corner shop.
The bizarre incident began when Jean-David discovered that his backpack containing his wallet had been stolen from his car.
After calling his bank to block his credit card, he discovered that £43.47 had been spent via a contactless payment at Tabac des Thermes, a nearby corner shop.
Jean-David went to the shop to see if the staff had seen anything suspicious.
The cashier revealed that two men had bought the ticket earlier that day, and were unable to enter the PIN number of one of the cards they attempted to make the purchase with.
After his conversation with the cashier, Jean-David contacted the local police. The police, in turn, reached out to France's national lottery operator, Française des Jeux (FDJ), to alert them of the fraudulent activity.
As a result, the scratch card was blocked, with no one yet coming forward to claim the prize.
The police are now likely to seize the winnings and, should the thieves approach the FDJ themselves, they are likely to be arrested.
Scratch card winners have 30 days from the date of purchase to claim their winnings, and for Jean-Davide and his unlikely collaborators, the deadline is fast approaching.
According to The Guardian, Jean-David's lawyer proposed an amnesty: "My client was very happy to have his credit card stolen in these circumstances and so is not looking to prosecute. This is also a miraculous opportunity for these two men to build a new life for themselves."
"Unless they contact my lawyer, the ticket is unusable. So why not settle amicably and do fifty-fifty?," Jean-David told French radio station RTL.
"Without me, they would not have won, but without them, I would not have bought this ticket. I want to offer them to share the winnings.
"For that amount of money, I'm ready to come to an agreement", he added, explaining that he would use his share of the winnings to help pay off his mortgage.
