Undocumented migrant fights to assert massive Belgian scratchcard get

An Algerian migrant being illegally in Belgium is battling to claim a €250,000 (£207,000) jackpot won on a scratchcard just after authorities insisted it can only be paid out if he can prove his identity.

“My customer is in an illegal problem, he has no papers and no lender account,” Alexander Verstraete, a attorney for the 28-12 months-outdated, explained to AFP on Friday. “We are searching for those people documents that can demonstrate his identification. He will have to contact his relatives in Algeria.”

Verstraete claimed the successful scratchcard was at this time currently being held by a courtroom in the city of Bruges soon after three mates tried to claim it unsuccessfully on his client’s behalf.

The buddies, also from north Africa, were detained for a evening by police on suspicion of theft in advance of being unveiled when the authentic winner came ahead with his attorney.

The winning ticket was bought a handful of weeks in the past in Zeebrugge. The Belgian port town is a common spot for migrants hoping to achieve England clandestinely concealed in vehicles or containers.

Verstraete explained his shopper, who does not intend to use for asylum to remain in Belgium, experienced received a guarantee from the authorities that he would not be deported right until he experienced been given his prize.

The prize is the jackpot of a scratchcard sold for €5, which offers a “one in 3.69 chance” of successful some kind of payout, according to the nationwide lottery website.

The retailer who offered the ticket is prohibited from providing out these a prize in hard cash.

For any prize of extra than €100,000 the winner must go to the company’s headquarters in Brussels, stated Joke Vermoere, spokesperson for the nationwide lottery, which was where the winner’s a few buddies went.

“The winner did not show up at our location, we have not found him, which is blocking the technique for the awarding of the prize for the time getting,” stated Vermoere.

She did not specify the conditions or the nature of the files demanded to assert the acquire.

“It is in the fingers of the public prosecutor’s workplace in Bruges,” she said.