Includes video report
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A Brevard County, Florida, man said he had a winning lottery ticket only to have the state deny him his winnings.
Robert Klosterman said he is owed $1,000 for a scratch-off ticket he bought in June at a Shell gas station on Fay Boulevard in Cocoa.
Klosterman, 68, said he thought June 2 was a lucky day for him, but that it turned out otherwise.
"I don't want to call them idiots, but they are. They are bureaucrats," Klosterman said.
Klosterman said when he tried to cash in his ticket at the Florida Lottery office, workers there claimed it was forged.
"I kept my cool. I was in the lottery office. After they explained to me, I walked out. (I) fumed a little bit, didn't say anything to anybody and just drove back to Cocoa," Klosterman said.
Klosterman said as soon as he won he signed the ticket, but the pen was out of ink. So he used another pen to clean up his signature. That is why he said officials believe the signature was forged.
"I've known him for at least 10 years and he is one of our biggest customers," Shell gas station owner Samir Patel said. "As long as he can prove that is his ticket, he should be able to get his money back."
Florida Lottery officials told Channel 9 that they are looking into Klosterman's claim.
Klosterman said he would like for them to hurry up, saying he's been waiting more than two months for his winnings.
"That ticket is probably in his in-basket and it's going to stay there until they teach me a lesson, that they are powerful and I am a nobody," Klosterman said.
VIDEO: Watch the news report
Once Signed don't alter the Signature in any way! A Handwriting Expert should be able to sort this out and determine it the Signature is a Forgery or Not.
Yeah... What Raven62 said!
Well, a tip. When you are going to sign something important, make sure your pen writes good. There are a lot of times I have to create a scribble on other paper to get my pen to work right.
I think that we will hear good news soon.
This is a lesson for all of us LP members. Check you pen before filling out the ticket and claim form. Both must be filled out correctly. We are sometimes talking about hundreds of millions of dollars.
I find a hard surface like a table when I write my signature on the ticket and claim form.
Here in California it is the Security Department's job to check the signatures. To see if it has been erased, changed, or whatever. They call their Department (SLED) for Security for Lottery Enforcement Division.
I'm surprised he had to goto a lottery office, in Ohio any prize between $600 and $5000 can be claimed at a designated local bank for a fee of $10 once the claim forms are made out and the ticket has been verified by a local retailer.
the people at the lottery are playing god, they just jealous they did not win what idiots no brains or education a state job
Oh wow, that's convenient. Hopefully they'll adopt that option in other states.
looks like patels own 80% of the gas stations.
C'mon just pay the man.
He has to wait over two months to cash a $1,000 scratch off? Are you friggin' kidding?
So he started signing his name... the pen ran out of ink. He got another pen and wrote over his name and finished his signature from the point where the first pen ran out. What's the problem?
Oh, wait. He didn't unscrew the pen and take it apart first, to see if there was enough ink in it to complete his signature.
RIGHT!!! We all do that every time we are at the grocery store, gas station, liquor store, pizzeria, K mart, Wall Mart, Outback, McDonald's, mall, or whatever store, every time the cashier hands us a pen so we can sign our receipt.
Heaven forbid we be accused of forging a signature for a 12 pack or a Happy Meal.
Gimme a break... The man won $1,000 not $500,000,000. C'mon Florida Lottery Commission... Show us you are not really idjits.
I always carry my own pens with me when I buy my tickets. I will definitely keep this story in mind whenever I win.
exactly.