Three to share $656m jackpot

THE largest lottery jackpot in US history – a whopping $656 million (£410m) – will be shared by the buyers of three winning tickets in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland – but their identities remain a mystery.

A phone call in the early hours aler ted Denise Metzger, manager of a Motomart convenience store, to news from lottery officials that her store had sold a winning ticket in the tiny farming community of Red Bud in southern Illinois, with less than 4000 residents.

“I screamed, I woke my husband up,” said Mrs Metzger, whose retail outlet will receive $500,000 for selling a winning ticket. “I think everyone in town has been here already,” she joked.

The Mega Millions lottery created a stir across the country, withmore than one billion $1 tickets sold.

Officials said other winning tickets were bought at a 7-Eleven store in Milford Mill, Maryland, near Baltimore, and in the most populated northeastern part of Kansas.

Winners could receive either a one-time payment of their share or take it in 26 annual instalment payments.

The three tickets each were worth more than $213m before taxes, if the payout was over 26 years. If taken in a lump sum, the windfall would be about $105.1m.

“Each of the winners gets $105.1 million in cash after taxes roughly, but who cares about pennies at this point?” said Carole Everett, spokeswoman for the Maryland Lottery.

One certain winner is the US Internal Revenue Service. The tax-collecting agency subjects lottery winnings of more than $5000 to a 25% federal withholding tax.