Big jackpots bring out false claims, workplace pool scams

When the prize reaches stratospheric heights, “Lots of people claim they won,” says Maryland Lottery spokeswoman. And if you play in an office pool, be sure to get things in writing.

A Baltimore woman claims she won one-third of the $656 million Mega Millions jackpot, but colleagues at the Mcdonald’s restaurant where she works say Mirlande Wilson bought the tickets for a workplace pool — and they’re winners too.

All of which may be irrelevant if Wilson doesn’t produce the winning ticket.

Maryland Lottery officials say someone purchased a winning ticket Friday night at a Baltimore County 7-Eleven store, but as of Monday afternoon, no one had come forward. Lottery director Stephen Martino said he hadn’t heard from Wilson or her representative, and that no one had showed up at his Baltimore offices. Although he didn’t call Wilson’s story a fabrication, he said, “We don’t have any reason to believe right now that it’s true.”

He added, “I tend to be really skeptical of all these claims.” He said he’d heard at least a halfdozen names of people who claim to have won.

Wilson told the New York Post she planned to claim her $105 million share Monday but declined to show the ticket to a reporter. She could not be reached Monday.

Co-workers told the Post they pooled their cash to buy several tickets and Wilson is stiffing them.

Maryland Lottery spokeswoman Carole Everett said Monday, “I never expected, based on that story, that this is the actual winner. We really won’t believe anybody till they walk in with a ticket and the ticket is valid — and they have identification.”

Everett says false claims are part of the process, especially when a jackpot reaches stratospheric heights. “Lots of people claim that they won,” she said. “They want a piece of the excitement.”

In New Jersey in 2010, a group of asphalt workers who regularly played Mega Millions sued a co-worker who disappeared after a No- vember 2009 drawing. The co-worker said he needed foot surgery, but crewmembers found his name on a list of Mega Millions winners: He had claimed $38.5 million. A jury last month ordered him to share the jackpot.

Such cases were enough to persuade Karen Pugh, principal of Bandini Elementary School in Commerce, Calif., east of Los Angeles, to draw up an agreement for her group of 11 regular lottery players in January 2010. “We had heard the stories of office pools gone bad,” Pugh said.

The agreement covered how much each member put in and what would happen if a member chose not to play one week (no prize). Pugh’s secretary began photocopying tickets and handing out copies. Three weeks later, they won $12 million. Last July, Pugh retired. In January, 16 Bandini employees, including nine of her former group, won an additional $250,000. She said, “I believe they still have something in writing.”