Final jackpot tally reaches $533 million
RIVERDALE, N.J. — As speculation swirled around the identity of the world's newest multi-millionaire, the owner of the mini-mart where Friday's winning Mega Millions ticket was sold said he reviewed surveillance footage to see if he could pinpoint the lucky customer.
New Jersey Lottery officials have not identified the winner of what they now say is a $533 million — revised upward from $521 million — jackpot yet, a spokeswoman said.
But based on time and date information workers that a Lukoil gas station and convenience store received from state lottery officials, owner Ameer Krass said Monday that the winner is a regular customer. He would not say whether the buyer purchased the ticket individually or for a group.
On Sunday, a cashier who said she had not received permission speak to reporters mentioned that employees were able to determine that the ticket buyer was male.
Tom Webber, supervisor of investigations for NJ Lottery, said he has not taken possession of the surveillance footage but confirmed that looking through security-camera video is something the commission does.
Lottery tickets are date and time stamped, state lottery spokeswoman MaryAnn Rivell said. But she cautioned against speculating on the person who will claim the prize.
"Until the ticket is actually validated, they don't have a claim," she said.
Riverdale itself, about 25 miles northwest of New York City, has fewer than 5,000 residents but is on Interstate 287, which funnels some commuters through it.
"I know them, and they are one of our regulars, which is great," Krass said. "That's what we were hoping for. Although we have hundreds, maybe thousands of customers, we know the majority of them by face, by name."
This has always been a lucky station," he said. "We may be a highway station but we have that in-town feel."
Krass said he has not tried to contact the winner since the drawing and said that people around him or her should give them, "the space they deserve."
New Jersey law requires a winner's name and town to be made public, according to the lottery. But the winner can be a person or organization, which has led to speculation that a winner can set up a trust to claim a prize.
Even with the bump in prize money, the winner still will take home the 10th largest lottery jackpot ever, the fourth largest Mega Millions drawing and the largest winning pot in New Jersey. The person who claims the prize can choose to take all $533 million in 30 annual installments; $324 million, up from $317.2 million, as a lump sum.
Krass received $30,000 for selling the winning ticket and was presented with a ceremonial check Monday.
Smart move on the lottery winner and smart move on the owner of that gas station.
This is what the Mass. woman should have done. Then again you can't fix stupid, so in this case good job for both.
As far as the lottery commission, it's the right of the lottery winner to do what they have to do. Maybe the lottery winner spoke to a lawyer and the lawyer is into it.
The winner or winners could know about Lottery Post or at least Todd may know them. LOL.
California retailers get $1,000,000.00 for selling a Power Ball or Mega Millions ticket. Maybe also a Super Lotto Plus ticket. Jackpot winners.
This winning ticket beat out the larger States like California, New York, Texas, Florida. Surprising!!
Let us all begin again on the long lottery road to Lottery History. WIN!!
We will soon see if the winner or winners are keeping their head or heads down. Getting professional advice from Trust & Estate Attorneys, CPAs, Insurance agents, and maybe even a public relations agency.
Slow down and take your time. You now have all the time you ever wanted.
Where to invest about $200,000,000.00?
The Stock Market is having a rough time right now but isn't this the time to buy stocks. "When others are fearful buy". Warren Buffet. "When others are greedy stop buying". Stay bullish on America.
Real Estate could be another investment vehicle.
Remember cdars/ics.com Do not get greedy.
One example is Brad Duke. He is a successful small business person and lottery winner. He knew himself and hired a team of professional investors, a public relations expert, and many others who are smarter than Brad.
There is a saying " The road to hell is paved with good intentions" l fear Ameer is stepping on it.This looking at footage to identify the winner is all wrong. The winner has 365 days to come forward and claim their prize.If Ameer is one who is known as " loose lips" he could expose the winner & put him or her at risk.lf you reading this Ameer, just remember you going to get your prize- l would suggest that you just back way off, for your own good.
The owner of the mini-mart where Friday's winning Mega Millions ticket was sold said, "he reviewed surveillance footage to see if he could pinpoint the lucky customer".
A very good reason not to buy tickets in stores. I only play by subscription, so there won't be any video footage of me buying tickets in a store.
There are other benefits too:
I can't loose my tickets!
The tickets are automatically checked!
More revenue for the state, as commission to the retailer is not required!
It's a win win, for the player and the state!
I agree, if a business can't respect their customer's privacy, they will, and should, loose business.
We don't hear much about Edward Snowden anymore, but his warning has never been more true.
Remember a couple of years ago the California lottery posted the video of the winning buyer? That was so wrong.
Music* and Noise-Gate, refresh my (our) memory(ies), wasn't that ticket a Mega Millions? Also was it near expiration? Or were they just in the mood to out this Hispanic woman?
There are one of two things that are possibly happening.
The winner is unaware they have won and therefore they have not come forward. (Very unlikely, but possible)
The winner does know they've won, and is taking the actions any astute player who has won millions of dollars would take. Hopefully this is case.
As for the store owner viewing the videotape and claiming he knows who the winner is, that's a definite maybe. It's impossible for him to be absolutely certain the person he suspects to be the winner is in fact the real winner. He wont know if his suspicions are correct or not until the actual winner comes forward.
Surveillance videos! Love them or hate them, they're here to stay. Your daily life is no where near as private as you might like it to be. Have you ever wondered how many times per day your picture is taken? It's a lot more than you think. Not to mention many people are happy to voluntarily provide lots of personal information about themselves to Facebook. And lots of application developers are more than happy to buy that same data from Facebook. The next time you see a login screen that allows you to "Login in via Facebook" you'll know your data has been sold to at least one app developer. Facebook sold them your FB login ID and password along with all sorts of other personal info you volunteered. G5
Yeah but then its a subscription which means if the first day your powerball number is picked along with 2 other white balls or just one white ball there's a very good chance that all your balls wont be picked during the next few draws. or maybe each draw 1-2 numbers are chosen.
BD- It was a Philipino named Bladimir Agnite, who won a $52 mil MM Jackpot in 2012. The guy had checked his ticket a few times, however in less than 45 days, the lottery Commission sent their enforcers to take charge of the survelliance footage & put the guy’s face on TV, all because “ he had not come forward “... after 45 days? The lottery got H* for that & dropped that practice immediately. I sensed the same crap here.
Even if the video footage shows a person that purchased the winning ticket,they could have been getting the ticket for a friend, neighbor or relative out of convenience.
I truly wish the person(s) that won much happiness and a smooth transaction when making the big claim.
Thank you noise-gate. Imagine if he ended up like Shaeffer in Florida thanks to the lottery doing something so foolish. Glad they stopped it.
Do you mean Shakespeare in Florida?
There is also another case in Southern California. The daughter was photographed buying a bottle of water and one ticket for her mother. When the Mother saw her daughter on the screen she thought that her daughter had robbed a bank.