Widow and daughter will split estate of poisoned $1 million lotto winner

Dec 13, 2013, 9:27 am (41 comments)

Illinois Lottery

The estate of a Chicago man who was poisoned to death right after he won $1 million on a scratch-off lottery ticket will be split between his widow and his daughter from a previous marriage, ending a fight in court.

The settlement was confirmed Thursday by a lawyer for the widow. The widow and daughter agreed not to sue each other for wrongful death unless a criminal investigation yields new information.

A medical examiner ruled in March that the lottery winner, Urooj Khan, was killed by cyanide poisoning. The medical examiner said that he could not determine how the cyanide was administered.

Khan died in July 2012, just before he was to collect a check from the Illinois lottery for $424,000 — the winnings after taxes and after Khan chose a one-time payment. He did not leave a will.

His death was ruled natural at first, but a brother raised suspicions, and authorities tested fluids taken from the body before Khan was buried. Those fluids showed the poisoning.

In January, authorities dug up the body to do a full autopsy in hopes of finding further evidence, but the exhumation yielded no significant clues. The death is classified as a homicide, but investigators have been tight-lipped.

The widow and daughter then fought in court over the division of Khan's property, as he left no will.

Under the settlement, the widow, Shabana Ansari, will get a third of the lottery money, and will keep three dry-cleaning shops that she owned with Khan. The Chicago Tribune reported that the shops are worth about $1 million.

The daughter, Jasmeen, will get the rest of the lottery money, plus five condominiums that were owned by Khan. Those are valued at about $250,000 together, The Tribune reported.

Al-Haroon Husain, a lawyer for the widow, told NBC News that he did not expect his client and the daughter to reconcile.

"I really wish they could," he said. "There has been a death, and the death has been under unusual circumstances. Both sides are pointing fingers at each other. It's very tough to reconcile."

A lawyer for the daughter did not immediately return a call for comment.

Khan, an Indian immigrant, came to Chicago in the 1980s and opened his first dry-cleaning shop in 2004. He bought the lottery ticket at a Chicago 7-Eleven, scratched it off and said later that he was so giddy at what he found that he tipped the clerk $100.

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AP

Comments

Jon D's avatarJon D

R.I.P. Mr. Khan.

He should have claimed anonymously and opted out of publicity, then maybe he would still be ...

... whoops, may not have helped, as most people are murdered by relatives or people they know.

dr65's avatardr65

Well, I guess it doesn't matter who killed him...just so they get the money and property straightened out.

That's priority alright.

One of them must have done it, why are they getting ANYTHING at all?

fwlawrence's avatarfwlawrence

What split did the lawyers get?

DDOH937's avatarDDOH937

Quote: Originally posted by Jon D on Dec 13, 2013

R.I.P. Mr. Khan.

He should have claimed anonymously and opted out of publicity, then maybe he would still be ...

... whoops, may not have helped, as most people are murdered by relatives or people they know.

Why do you people always say that????? Really??? Do you not already know that that there are ONLY 6 States that allows for winners to collect anonymously???? I hate when people get on this garbage about why did he/she/they let the public know. Just in case you're not aware, the ONLY states that allow anonymous claims are : Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Ohio, South Carolina and North Dakota. I really can't understand why people still dont get this. And in some cases, some States REQUIRE a press conference before can get your cash. Get off it people, most winners have no choice so they simply bite the bullet and figure they'll go public and get it over with since its getting out regardless.

 

Rest In Peace Mr. Khan. It seems you were a hard worker and a business man who took chances and was able to aquire a few assets for yourself. Good on you.

Jon D's avatarJon D

Quote: Originally posted by DDOH937 on Dec 13, 2013

Why do you people always say that????? Really??? Do you not already know that that there are ONLY 6 States that allows for winners to collect anonymously???? I hate when people get on this garbage about why did he/she/they let the public know. Just in case you're not aware, the ONLY states that allow anonymous claims are : Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Ohio, South Carolina and North Dakota. I really can't understand why people still dont get this. And in some cases, some States REQUIRE a press conference before can get your cash. Get off it people, most winners have no choice so they simply bite the bullet and figure they'll go public and get it over with since its getting out regardless.

 

Rest In Peace Mr. Khan. It seems you were a hard worker and a business man who took chances and was able to aquire a few assets for yourself. Good on you.

DDOH937's avatarDDOH937

Quote: Originally posted by Jon D on Dec 13, 2013

Big Grin Unless you claim as a Trust, which is allowed in most states, including Illinois.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-06/news/ct-met-anonymous-lottery-20111106_1_lottery-winners-illinois-lottery-lottery-jackpot

Fair enough. Thanks for the post/link. I know that some States allow winners to form LLC/TRUSTS but still their name has to be disclosed publicly. Thanks for sharing this though. Very much appreciated.

Jon D's avatarJon D

Quote: Originally posted by DDOH937 on Dec 13, 2013

Fair enough. Thanks for the post/link. I know that some States allow winners to form LLC/TRUSTS but still their name has to be disclosed publicly. Thanks for sharing this though. Very much appreciated.

No problem.

Also, my post was facetious, joking that claiming anonymously would not help you if you are poisoned by your wife. Dead

dr65's avatardr65

He only won a million dollars...less than that total take. It's not enough to be a constant figure in the public eye, there are new

and bigger winners all the time to take the attention off the latest winner. $1 Million is enough for some evil family member to

do away with your hind-end...and some would do it for a lot less. I don't think that staying in the shadows or remaining an unknown

would have helped him in any way. No one wants to bother a millionaire, there's not enough to go around. Sooo, keep it in the

family, poison the winner, try and get away with it and live it up for a short time. Is it really worth someone's LIFE? No. Greed

is funny, it clouds judgement...it creates monsters and murderer's...I hope they find out who killed him (I'm sure they must

know already...it said they're being tight lipped..) I hope they get a long, long time to think about what they did and curse the

day they got it in their mind to kill someone for a crummy $400k or so.

DDOH937's avatarDDOH937

Quote: Originally posted by Jon D on Dec 13, 2013

No problem.

Also, my post was facetious, joking that claiming anonymously would not help you if you are poisoned by your wife. Dead

hahahahaha, true. Imagine spening money on lawyers ect, hiding from the public and then going home where pure evil awaits. Oooohh, guess what i just thought, maybe him going public was calculated because his knew/suspected his fate? A bit Machiavellian on my part but who knows. Either way, sad. But here's what i'm thinking, why kill him for a mere $400K when he has businesses and condos worth a combined $3 million plus? Hmmmm, interesting....

Jon D's avatarJon D

Quote: Originally posted by DDOH937 on Dec 13, 2013

hahahahaha, true. Imagine spening money on lawyers ect, hiding from the public and then going home where pure evil awaits. Oooohh, guess what i just thought, maybe him going public was calculated because his knew/suspected his fate? A bit Machiavellian on my part but who knows. Either way, sad. But here's what i'm thinking, why kill him for a mere $400K when he has businesses and condos worth a combined $3 million plus? Hmmmm, interesting....

People have killed for less. Murderers are dumb.

Actually, I was wondering why 5 condos only totalled $250,000 together. Real estate in Chicago must really be in the crapper, or those places must be real slummy.

DDOH937's avatarDDOH937

Quote: Originally posted by Jon D on Dec 13, 2013

People have killed for less. Murderers are dumb.

Actually, I was wondering why 5 condos only totalled $250,000 together. Real estate in Chicago must really be in the crapper, or those places must be real slummy.

Must have been a typo, i thought it read "$250,000 EACH!! But just saw that it actually read $250,000 together. Interesting..

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

I bet the wife's back in court within a year facing murder charges.

DDOH937's avatarDDOH937

Quote: Originally posted by Jon D on Dec 13, 2013

Big Grin Unless you claim as a Trust, which is allowed in most states, including Illinois.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-06/news/ct-met-anonymous-lottery-20111106_1_lottery-winners-illinois-lottery-lottery-jackpot

Hey Jon D, just got some very very valuable information. The claiming of prizes using Trusts/LLC's in Illinois is ONLY permitted if the LLC or Trust was formed BEFORE winning. That is, you had a Trusts/LLC set up or established PRIOR to even purchasing the winning ticket. Quite crazy if you ask me. I just contacted the Illinois lottery headquarters to enquire for myself. (i'm like that, i try to do my own research whenever possible). But thanks for the info, it lead me to doing a bit of research and to dig deeper. All the States have all these crazy rules.

MDguy

Quote: Originally posted by DDOH937 on Dec 13, 2013

Why do you people always say that????? Really??? Do you not already know that that there are ONLY 6 States that allows for winners to collect anonymously???? I hate when people get on this garbage about why did he/she/they let the public know. Just in case you're not aware, the ONLY states that allow anonymous claims are : Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Ohio, South Carolina and North Dakota. I really can't understand why people still dont get this. And in some cases, some States REQUIRE a press conference before can get your cash. Get off it people, most winners have no choice so they simply bite the bullet and figure they'll go public and get it over with since its getting out regardless.

 

Rest In Peace Mr. Khan. It seems you were a hard worker and a business man who took chances and was able to aquire a few assets for yourself. Good on you.

I wonder if you can wear a ninja mask to the press conferences.

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