A 28-year-old Algerian illegally in Belgium won 250,000 euros (just under $270,000) in a Belgian national lottery game and is now struggling to collect the prize, which will only be credited if he can prove his identity.
The sum was the “grand prize” of a loz-type lottery ticket in the “Cash” range, sold for 5 euros ($5.41) and which gives the holder “a 3.69 chance” to recover the investment, according to the Belgian National Lottery website.
The immigrant's lawyer, Alexander Berstraete, told AFP on Friday that he initially tried to collect the prize using three American friends, who nevertheless ended up being accused of theft and arrested. Being too big a prize can not be paid in cash, so it is mandatory to have an account with a bank.
Finally, the young man presented himself to the police with the lawyer, and the winning ticket is now in the possession of the justice of the Belgian city of Bruges. Upon reporting to the police, his three friends were released.
“My client is in an illegal situation, he doesn't have papers and he doesn't have a bank account,” said the lawyer, adding that “we are looking for these documents that can prove his identity, and for that he will have to contact his family in Algeria.”
The winning ticket (the kind where a series of numbers need to be scraped) had been purchased in Zeebrugge, a Belgian port city known for attracting undocumented immigrants trying to get to England hiding in trucks or containers.
Faced with this situation, the young Algerian received from the Belgian authorities a promise not to be returned to the border or to his country before he had received his profit. “When I get the money, I'm going to buy a place to live in Brussels. And maybe a car,” said the man, whose identity has not been revealed, to the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.
Berstraete said the young Algerian man has no intention of applying for asylum in Belgium.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Belgian Lottery said that the case is now in the hands of the prosecutor's office in Bruges, in the north of the country.
The winner left Algeria four months ago, traveling by boat to Spain. From there he toured that country and France on foot before arriving in Belgium.
He had wanted to travel to the UK, but now he says he would rather stay in Belgium and hope to start a family. “I will also look for a wife,” he told Het Laatste Nieuws. “Still, I'm not going to find one with my money, but with my heart.”
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