Undocumented woman was scared to claim, but now relative is nowhere to be found
By Kate Northrop
An undocumented mother living in California said she won a $2 million prize in the lottery and entrusted her uncle to claim it on her behalf, but now she believes he's run off with the money.
Among worries that her immigration status would interfere with her lottery claim, she gave her $2 million winning ticket to her uncle only to discover that he's gone radio silent.
Ruby Reyes, an immigrant mother living in the Bay Area, decided to try her luck on a $20 "Instant Prize Crossword" scratch-off ticket in late 2024. She purchased the ticket at an MD Liquor & Food business in Santa Rosa but ultimately believed that her luck was gone as quickly as it came.
She won a $2 million top prize and immediately started formulating plans about how to improve the lives of her children, but what started off as pure elation settled into fears that her immigration status would interfere with her ability to claim the prize.
Worried about appearing before government officials at the California Lottery, she entrusted the ticket to her uncle to claim on her behalf and return the winnings to her.
"I handed it over to an uncle because, supposedly, he had the [legal resident] paperwork and was going to give me the money," Reyes told N+Univision 14 in an interview.
The uncle, who remains unnamed, showed up to claim the prize under his identity and received a check for $1,520,004.08 after taxes, but she says she hasn't see a penny. She filed legal proceedings against him in hopes of recouping what was once within reach.
"It was a dream I had," Reyes told the news outlet. "I only thought about my future and that of my children. I am telling the truth, and nothing but the truth, and I have sufficient evidence to win this case."
Reyes sent a message to her uncle asking him to "reconsider and give me back what it is mine, so I can give something to my children."
The California Lottery did not share anything to do with Reyes' case with N+Univision 14, but Lottery spokesperson Jorge de la Cruz did clarify that an individual's immigration status does not affect a person's ability to claim a prize in California.
Immigrants, documented or not, are still required to pay taxes on lottery winnings and must present some form of ID, which might include a passport or consular registration, in order for the Lottery to verify that they are paying out the prize to the winning ticketholder. In some states, lottery winners must also submit a tax identification number (ITIN) and some states may require a valid U.S. address for the prize claim process.
Lottery winners cannot claim prizes anonymously in California. Winners can form a trust before claiming, but the law does not allow a trust to claim a prize.
Who ever signs the ticket is the owner. Now ICE knows where to find her. Some things are best kept quiet.
Welp. Nothing she can do. He was the signed owner and winner. She committed a crime crossing the border illegally and now she's paying for it. Sorry it happened that way tho.
She should have held on to the ticket long enough to get a plan in place to figure things out.
Giving it to the uncle right away just blew it for her.
Since she didn't have residency (or US citizenship) she may have forfeited the claim .
"It was a dream I had,".
I think your dream just died as soon as you trusted your uncle to give you the money.
Coulda/Shoulda/Woulda...
I bet you felt good writing this.
If you feel so strongly about it how about the lottery check immigration status prior to taking peoples money. No one is questioning that theft is theft. She trusted the wrong person and he stole from her. Look we have a US citizen taking advantage of an "illegal".
True true your immigration status can interfere with your lottery but in a good way. If you are illegal immigrants and win the lottery you will pay 30 percent tax just like UK residents as to where you get deported to who cares. Now you have no money and probably get deported with no money. Before you had money and could be deported with money. So the best thing to do is Claim your lottery win with your $2,000,000 worst case Scenario buy Trump Visa Gold 🥇 Card with $1,000,000 😁😀✈️ . IF YOU ARE Rich nobody can deport you because you can buy your own Private Island 🏝️ or private country so the only people that get deported are Poor people ✈️
Your reply is a wild mix of satire, real tax facts, and fantasy. Let’s break it down:
· Tax fact: U.S. lottery winnings are taxed at ~30% federal (plus state) for residents and non-residents alike, so that part’s correct.
· The uncle: If he claims the ticket legally, he owns the money—not the nephew. The nephew has no claim unless a trust/contract existed.
· Trump “Gold Card”: Not a real thing. There’s an EB-5 investor visa ($800k–$1M+), but it takes years and requires a legitimate business investment, not a lottery ticket.
· Private island/country: You can’t buy sovereignty. Islands are still under a nation’s laws (e.g., Bahamas, Fiji). No country = no citizenship, so you’d be stateless, not immune.
· Deportation: Wealth does help—you can hire lawyers, apply for investor visas, or seek asylum—but being rich doesn’t automatically stop deportation. Plenty of wealthy foreign nationals have been denied entry or removed.
The real worst-case: The uncle takes the $2M, pays ~$600k tax, keeps $1.4M, and legally stays in the U.S. as a visitor (if he has a valid visa). The nephew gets $0 and still faces deportation.
So your punchline is funny, but the actual advice: Never give away a winning ticket. Claim it yourself, pay the tax, then hire an immigration lawyer immediately to explore legal status options while you have funds. Money buys time and lawyers, not citizenship or islands.
Very well said JBL. Hopefully the uncle from hell, ends up back in hell. This is heartless but this kind of crap has happened before.
life is tough enough & even tougher when you can't comprehend the rules and should've known better
lesson learned the hard way
immigration status doesn't matter, she is a crime victim. uncle sticky fingers is apparently only a legal resident, not a citizen either, and stealing more than a million dollars might cause him an unexpected change in status.
hope she gets her money back.
I think that my next move would be to contact the uncle to let him know that at least a couple of Cartels south of the US/Mexico border might be interested in being hired as a private collection agency for a cut of the 1.5 Mil.
I would think that it is possible the cut could wind up being 100%. Does that sound about right...?
Uncle, what do you think? Will that help you feel like doing the right thing now...?
Best wishes to the lady for the monetary recovery.
* The X Files said it best..
i wouldn't say trust no one. a lot of state lotteries turn a blind eye to illegal immigrant players having their legal family members claim their prizes, and this lady did what millions of other illegals do all the time. her uncle's just a turd.
* Point taken, when l posted " trust no one "but l was thinking specifically on this case & how things turned out for her.
You win that much money, go talk to a lawyer. I'd rather get kicked out of the country with 1.5Mil in my bank account. Hate when stupid people win the lottery.