Connecticut Powerball mystery deepens

My final thoughts on this whole thing...

Someone won, who wasn't me, oh well better luck next time.

Who cares who actually won, or what they do with the money, it's not my money, it's theirs to do however they wish.

I'm just glad the "mystery" of the where the ticket was has been solved.  No more people claiming to have lost it.

Hiring a lawyer or an asset manager is probably a smart move on their part, if that's what really happened.

If not, who cares, it's not my money.  Everything that has gone on is perfectly legal.

If they don't donate money to charity, that's too bad, it's their money, however usually donations are a tax write-off so it would be beneficial to whom ever.

Also did I mention it's their money?

I still like the story of 3 people splitting one QP ticket.

Includes video report

Three money managers who claimed the state's record-breaking $254.2 million Powerball jackpot on Monday may still have a fight ahead of them in the court of public opinion.

A day after the trio announced they had scored the windfall on a $1 ticket one of them bought at a gas station, media reports surfaced Tuesday that the men had in fact acted on behalf of an anonymous client.

The speculation started almost immediately: Who could the mystery buyer be? A lucky hedge-fund king? A big-name banker too shy — or guilt-ridden — to go public?

But late in the day, a spokesman for the men, all colleagues at Belpointe Asset Management in Greenwich, denied the story. The men are who they say they are, he said — co-workers who formed a trust to collect the $104 million lump sum and to give much of the money away to charity.

"To be clear, there are a total of three trustees and there is no anonymous fourth participant," said spokesman Gary Lewi. "Within the next 10 days the [Putnam Avenue Family] Trust will be distributing $1 million" to veterans charities in the tri-state area.

Before the lottery winnings, Belpointe managed $85 million, according to a Securities and Exchange filing.

None of the winners, Belpointe President Greg Skidmore and co-workers Brandon Lacoff and Tim Davidson, could be reached for comment on Tuesday.

The existence of the trust, named after the street where they work, has seemed to only encourage skepticism.

It's legal to claim lottery winnings through a trust, though additional beneficiaries can be added at a later date. Moreover, the person holding the winning ticket isn't required to have purchased the ticket, Connecticut lottery officials said.

Connecticut's Department of Consumer Protection, which oversees the lottery operation, said that it believes the rules were followed and that it isn't investigating.

Curiosity had surrounded the jackpot, Connecticut's largest ever, since the winning ticket was drawn Nov. 2.

For nearly a month, the state urged the winner to come out on billboards and answered what officials called "anonymous phone calls asking about the process," said Lottery chairman Frank Farricker.

At a news conference organized by the Connecticut Lottery on Monday, Messrs. Skidmore, Lacoff and Davidson posed for pictures with an oversize check. Mr. Davidson recalled buying a single Quick Pick ticket at a Stamford gas station but revealed few additional details. The group's attorney, Jason Kurland, answered most of the crowd's questions.

The owner of the gas station where the winning ticket was purchased said he didn't remember Mr. Davidson, but then, the days had been busy.

On Tuesday, Greenwich resident Thomas Gladstone told the Greenwich Time newspaper the actual ticket belongs to one of Belpointe's clients.

He described himself as a close friend of Mr. Lacoff. Mr. Gladstone couldn't be reached for comment.

Speculation ran rampant, with possible winners ranging from a Greenwich billionaire who didn't want to be targeted by the jealous masses to a Stamford firefighter.

"Are you kidding me?" said a person who answered the phone Tuesday at Stamford's Fire Department. If someone there had won, everyone would be talking about it, he added.

Many raised another question: If the money managers weren't the real winners, why would they have participated in a media event that's not mandatory? "It's not required they come to a press conference, but it's important for the integrity of the game for people to see who won the significant jackpot," Mr. Farricker said.

Money manager Michael Holland of New Canaan, who doesn't know the men, said regardless, he still "can't believe they had their pictures taken" in a climate where Wall Street has come under intense protest.

"With Occupy Wall Street, it is so bizarre that they would put themselves out there," he said.

Here is the truth people. Listen very carefully.  I already know they will block me for telling the truth, but I have to tell the truth. According to a secret insiders, the whole lottery thing is a scam. There is no random in the lottery because they already know which numbers gonna come up. they let people when small jackpot, but when the jackpot get really high, the money go back to them. How? They will have somebody act like a winner, and they pay the person under the table.  The lottery is perhap the biggest scam which nobody doing anything about. Ask yourself this. If it sounds to good to be true, then it is not true. Thy are using the law of attraction to make people think that life is easy. Here is my advice. Stop wasting all ya hard earn little money when ya could be using it in a wiser way. This is why they say the rich is getting richer, and the poor is getting poorer. Again this is the truth I tell you. If you want it, the take. And if you don't, then don't take it. I can guarantee you that oneday you are going to realize that playing the lottery is waste of money. Ask yourself this question. How many times did the Jackpot get really high, and you feel hype and never win nothing? Not once, but many time. Take my advice into consideration because like I said its  from a secret insider source. I know the system will not allow me to post any more comment, but thats ok because I let the truth out.

So, exactly how much did you lose recently?

So, exactly how much did you lose recently?

I lost everything. Because of the lottery addiction, I did things I never thought I would do. I had to lie and sometimes steal.

Sorry to hear that but you know the odds on the lottery say you're going to lose almost all of the time.

You have to bet accordingly.

On the big jackpot games, it's basically just a shot in the dark.

Spending all your money on the lottery is like taking a leak in the ocean - it really doesn't have much effect on anything. The odds are like 195 million to one on Powerball. Whether you put one dollar or one hundred dollars on it doesn't make a whole lot of difference. The odds against you are still daunting either way.

I don't believe the big jackpot games are rigged. They're just engineered to make it almost impossible to win.

But if you buy just one ticket, your odds are basically the same as anybody else's to win the jackpot.

I hope everything works out for you.

Just let winners have to the right to remain anonymous. I can't understand the media's obsession with knowing the identity of lottery winners. We don't have that in Australia, people are happy for the winners and hope it will be their turn next week. People also feel that if they do win, they don't want the media hunting them down.

Here is the truth people. Listen very carefully.  I already know they will block me for telling the truth, but I have to tell the truth. According to a secret insiders, the whole lottery thing is a scam. There is no random in the lottery because they already know which numbers gonna come up. they let people when small jackpot, but when the jackpot get really high, the money go back to them. How? They will have somebody act like a winner, and they pay the person under the table.  The lottery is perhap the biggest scam which nobody doing anything about. Ask yourself this. If it sounds to good to be true, then it is not true. Thy are using the law of attraction to make people think that life is easy. Here is my advice. Stop wasting all ya hard earn little money when ya could be using it in a wiser way. This is why they say the rich is getting richer, and the poor is getting poorer. Again this is the truth I tell you. If you want it, the take. And if you don't, then don't take it. I can guarantee you that oneday you are going to realize that playing the lottery is waste of money. Ask yourself this question. How many times did the Jackpot get really high, and you feel hype and never win nothing? Not once, but many time. Take my advice into consideration because like I said its  from a secret insider source. I know the system will not allow me to post any more comment, but thats ok because I let the truth out.

These guys are brilliant. They claim they only bought one ticket,  and then get one of their friends to claim they're a front for somebody else. 24 hours after coming forward half of the people already think they aren't lottery winners. It's almost as good as being anonymous and as a bonus their business gets millions in free advertising.

Just let winners have to the right to remain anonymous. I can't understand the media's obsession with knowing the identity of lottery winners. We don't have that in Australia, people are happy for the winners and hope it will be their turn next week. People also feel that if they do win, they don't want the media hunting them down.