WELLINGTON, Fla. — Florida Lottery security officials have opened an investigation into the case of a 69-year-old Wellington man who lost a scratch-off ticket worth $500,000.
But it's too early to tell if Louis Tolentino will get the money.
"They have begun an investigation, but there's nothing conclusive at this time," said Laurie Wright, spokeswoman for The Florida Lottery.
Tolentino is behind on his mortgage. His maintenance payments are past due. Medical bills are mounting.
His $500,000 scratch-off ticket would have solved all his problems. But as fast and easy as it came, it was gone, and he is in mourning.
"They're gonna see what they can do," he said Monday, his voice shaky. He said he was too distraught to say any more.
The retiree set out to cash the ticket Wednesday at a local Florida Lottery office but lost it, along with his hope of getting up-to-date with his bills.
"I'm sick. Now I owe everybody," said Tolentino, a onetime New York City garbage truck driver who said Social Security is his only source of income. "That ticket was God sent."
Tolentino said he wrapped the ticket in some papers and put it in his back pocket on his way to the lottery office.
When he got to the place he thought the office was in West Palm Beach, he realized it had moved. He stopped at a gas station to ask for directions.
"There was someone in line behind me that got very close to me," he said.
But Tolentino was in such a rush to cash his ticket, he left for the new address. He ended up not finding it.
"I went home and put the car in the garage and checked my back pocket," he said. "It wasn't there. I took the car apart, ripped my arms up. It wasn't there."
Tolentino bought the Gold Rush ticket at Gold Coast Liquors on Lake Worth Road, across the street from the Wycliffe Country Club community where he lives with his wife, Sandra. He retired nine years ago.
When he scratched off the ticket, he wasn't sure he had won.
"I thought I had maybe won $50," he said. "But there was another zero, and then another and another."
Still unsure, Tolentino headed to the liquor store to find out exactly how big his prize was.
"The machine printed out a confirmation ticket, which confirmed he had won the $500,000," said Larry Hillard, a clerk at the store who was not there when Tolentino came in with his ticket. "My understanding is a scratch-off ticket is like a bearer bond: Whoever has it, has the money."
Tolentino doesn't have much hope that someone will return the ticket. He said he filed a report with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and called the Florida Lottery.
Tolentino said it was a mistake not to write his name and address on the back of the ticket. Lottery officials agree.
"That's the surest way that you can make a claim for that ticket," Wright said.
She said winning tickets go missing occasionally and are resolved on a case-by-case basis.
Tolentino is now heartbroken.
"I was so happy, in such a rush to get the money," he said. "Now I can't sleep. I haven't eaten in four days."
But he'll give this a try: "I do hope the Lotto people let me cash this with the confirmation ticket" from the liquor store, he said. "They got the proof."
What a devastating thing to have happen to you and there is a lesson in it for all of us. Do your research before you win, regarding where you have to go and why. Take someone with you (spouse, child over 18 of course), sign the ticket right away and copy, copy, copy your winning ticket along with the confirmation ticket, if given one. I always copy my tickets worth more than $500.
I will say a special prayer for this gentleman!
I can only hope and pray the poor soul doesn't have an heart attack from all the stress and the Florida Lottery accepts the confirmation slip.
I hope they investigate and find out he is the true winner of the money. There are just too many thieves around ..just waiting for an opportunity to relieve us of our money..what little we have.
I saw this on CNN earlier..... Why oh why would you leave something like that in your back pocket??
That's what I am wondering. Especially, when it's something worth half a million dollars.
My god !. What's wrong with this guy. He should have put the ticket in his wallet. All men have wallets. Right ?. I wish him luck getting his money.
"I do hope the Lotto people let me cash this with the confirmation ticket" from the liquor store, he said. "
He should have protected the real ticket as well as he protected that confirmation ticket.
I've seen this before, a player will have an old playslip with his favorite numbers and he'll protect it better than the ticket he buys saying "I can't afford to lose this playslip 'cause it has my favorite numbers on it" even though the playslip isn't proof of the numbers he played.
I saw this on the news also. If the news stories are correct in their facts, eventually he will get the money. He does have the confirmation ticket which the lottery terminal printed out when the ticket was scanned. He also has a witness (the store clerk) who scanned the ticket. I'm sure the clerk noticed it was a big winner. The question is how long it will take the lottery to conduct the investigation.
If someone else submits the ticket for payment, the lottery will not pay out immediately as there is an investigation going on for that ticket. After the news exposure, if someone did steal the ticket, the thief hopefully realizes he or she is setting themself up for possible theft and fraud charges if the try to claim the winnings. If the ticket fell out of the guy's pocket and someone else found it on the ground and says it it theirs, then it is more complicated and may end up in court to decide who gets what.
If no one else submits the winning ticket, the lottery could delay payout until after that particular scratch-off game ends and the extra 60-day period to claim winning tickets after game-end has expired.
As many have said many times on Lottery Post, SIGN the ticket, copy the ticket, and protect the ticket...
Good "Luck" to this person?
Yes, I hope the confirmation receipt will stand for him in court or from the lottery commission.
If a "confirmation receipt" was given, It would "void" out any other cashable ticket with the same code on it.
But, if I won that much, I would have at least 2 or 3 people with me on the way to the lottery headquarters.
And not be driving alone. Anything more than that, I'd be talking to an attorney first.
It's hard to believe that a "confirmation ticket" would be processed at a liquor store for that amount?
In Ohio, they cannot give you a confirmation over a $5,000 prize.
I guess that Florida might be different?
I hope he gets the cash. But, they may wait until the very last minute on the deadline for the ticket?
Signing the ticket would certainly prevent somebody else from cashing it, but at the very least the lottery office will do a thorough security check before paying anyone else who presents the ticket. Whether a confirmation ticket is issued or not, if a winning ticket is scanned in a lottery terminal the lottery should have a record that identifies that ticket, along with when and where it was scanned. Unless somebody else can produce the ticket and tell the lottery office when and where it was scanned and where it was bought, the guy probably has a decent shot at collecting the money.
Oh Waaaaaa Waaaaaa!!!! What a common sob story. If you don't have the common sense to sign your ticket and put it in a safe place then I have no pity for your stupidity and carelessness. If he lost it then good!!! I bet he's not as careless with his social security check. I bet he was not as careless with his paycheck when he worked. Nor is he as careless with his income tax check. And if he was that absentminded then he should have taken his wife along. If his pocket was picked, then it was probably someone who heard him running his mouth.
Do I feel sorry for him, NO-NO-NO. Why, because he was careless. My heart goes out to his wife who must by now realize the type of man she is married to. If he is this careless with a half-million dollar ticket, then if they ever get the money she should hold the purse strings. That way he don't lose the bank card and someone ends up going on a shopping spree at their expense and we have to waste valuable air time listening to another sob story brought on by his stupidity and carelessness. I mean GOOD GRIEF LUIS TOLENTINO!!!!!! YOU'RE SUCH A BLOCKHEAD!!!!!!!
Everyday I pray that I don't forget to take my anti-dumbazz pill that way I don't end up doing something as dumbazz as this.
Technically the lottery doesn't have to pay unless the instructions of claiming are followed. Most require the actual ticket. Now if someone returns with the actual ticket or scratcher.....then the lottery is obligated to pay.
Here in NM...it clearly states the ticket is bearer instrument until signed. Also ONLY the actual ticket can be used to make a claim. Payslips, etc are not legal tender. That is why most lottery tickets have the fine print at the back of the ticket with all that legal jumbo. I don't think they write all that stuff on the back of the ticket for their health. I just bought a ticket and the back clearly states:
Ticket is a bearer instrument until signed.
NMLA is not responsible for lost, stolen, misdirected tickets.
The ticket, not the payslip, shall be the only valid proof of the selections made and the only valid receipt for claiming a prize
Also I don't know about Florida. But most claims/confirmations regarding amounts over $600 are done at the lottery HQ. Not at a retailer.
IMHO in order to prevent stuff like this from occuring the lottery needs to remove the bearer instrument/signature requirement. They need to say that in the future proof of purchase is required. Either that or require contact info at the time of purchase that way it is easier to prove who really owns a ticket.
Careless is forgetting to lock your front door at night or leave your car door open and your battery goes dead. But this man had the ticket in HIS OWN back pocket. So, if as he stated someone got close to him that does not give them the right to take it. Come on have a heart.
Ok. I'm not saying that this guy is or is not lying about the story, but do we all remember who Elecia Battle was? If not, look her up. Her story is pretty similar to this guy's.
Cut the guy some slack. He's a 69 year old retired garbage man for goodness sake. The lottery should be prepared to deal with the portion of their customer base that don't fully grasp the rules of collecting the prizes.
In my opinion, an honest lottery corporation would wait until the scratch ticket expires, and if not cashed in they can pay the claim based on the validation slip.
The person who finds the scratch ticket is the new owner entitled to cash it. I would hope the lottery would inform this person there is a problem with ownership and allow the parties to split the prize or take it to court. This part is a fantasy day dream, sorry.
BobP
"The person who finds the scratch ticket is the new owner entitled to cash it. I would hope the lottery would inform this person there is a problemwith ownership and allow the parties to split the prize or take it tocourt. This part is a fantasy day dream, sorry."
BobP, I don't think it is necessarily true that whoever finds the ticket will be the new owner. Or it won't work in this case.
Mr. Tolentino has already reported the ticket missing to the lottery officials and the police. He has the confirmation ticket, the clerk who sold him the ticket, the media is all over this story and I am sure it was all caught on tape. And based on this recent news story: https://www.lotterypost.com/news/197606 finding a winning ticket and cashing it in, can get you in a lot of trouble. Especially, since it has been reported missing.
He claims that life is tough for him right now. "I owe everybody" he says, supposedly, his only income is Social Security and he's sportin' $20 scratch off tickets! What the...
The way I see it is, ya still have to be smarter than that lottery ticket that you buy!!!!
Man that sucks, I hate to misplace anything. Hopefully he will get something
out of it, being that he has a confirmation ticket.
Let's suppose this guy lost the ticket getting into his car and drives away. Five minutes later you pull into the spot and pick up the ticket. Would you turn it in? Or would you cash it? It clearly states it a bearer instrument, so he who has it owns it
What about finding a ticket that had not been checked? Clearly someone else bought it, but lost it. Why is the fact that he checked it any different?
Personally, I would give it back and hope that karma catches up with me later.
I think you're right. There is a lot of precedent for people who lose a lottery ticket, but there is some good proof that they own it. The person finding the ticket in that case does not get to keep the money.
Here's a great example from a very recent news story:
https://www.lotterypost.com/news/197606
His back pocket "mixed with some other papers" was the worst way of transporting the ticket. All men know (or should know) that their back pocket is the most vulnerable pocket for pickpocketing and for papers to slip out. If he was that careless with the ticket then he would probably have been that careless with his winnings.
By trust worthy friends do you mean friends who wouldn't ask you to share your winnings with them?
no WAY would I put it in my pocket!!
Heck even Charlie Applebee knows better:
http://fgff.indie-fest.com/?p=16
That's true that the UKcourts ruled that "finders/keepers" didn't apply in that case. Although I don't know the specifics of the law in the UK. Also wedon't know how the lottery is run there. Also the specifics from the article from the UK case is kinda vague. Do they have all of thelegal fine print on the back of the ticket there like we do here in theUS? Is the claim process in the UK different the the claim processhere in the states?
It also doesn't explain why the lottery continues to print the fineprint that the ticket is a bearer instrument UNTIL SIGNED. If alottery ticket belongs to the purchaser why does the lottery require asignature? Why does the lottery here in the states say they arebearer instruments until signed?
I know the gentleman has the confirmation ticket but why does the story include so much information about where he bought the scratch off? Seems like I remember reading a story on here recently that said part of claiming a ticket could include identifying the place of purchase. Whoever found the ticket now has that information.
While I do feel sympathy for the guy in this story and sincerely hope he does get paid, but as has been said here, putting something worth 500 large in a back pocket and standing in a line is really not too swift.
I wouyld think most people with such a ticket would keep it in sight and check that it was still there about every 15 seconds, no?
Until fully sorted out I'll also wonder.
Agree with Rick G and Perdue he was very careless handling a ticket worth that much. I'd be considering a zip lock bag taped to my body for a ticket worth a half mil.