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California Powerball winner Edwin Castro has fired again against a lawsuit searching for his bounty, slamming the submitting for failing to make any connection between himself and the allegedly stolen profitable ticket.
Castro’s legal professional additionally says his shopper was not correctly served authorized papers within the case of Jose Rivera, the person suing for the winnings, in keeping with a movement filed Thursday.
Rivera argued in a current go well with he’s the rightful proprietor of the $2.04 billion jackpot — the nation’s largest to this point — and purchased the profitable ticket Nov. 7 2022, a day earlier than the drawing, from Joe’s Service Station in Altadena.
The lawsuit claims Urachi F. Romero, recognized as “Reggie,” then allegedly stole the ticket and refused to return it regardless of Rivera’s requests. Reggie can also be named a defendant within the go well with.
Estela Richeda, a lawyer for Rivera maintained to The Post her shopper was the one who purchased the profitable ticket on the Altadena retailer.
She mentioned Jose informed her that Reggie then “took the ticket from a desk.”
“This is what Jose associated to us — he bought the tickets and Reggie took the tickets from him. Once the profitable numbers have been introduced, Reggie proposed to Jose that he would return the ticket if he bought 50% of the winnings.”
However, Castro’s Thursday movement states the lawsuit “fails to allege information that create a nexus between Edwin G. Castro and co-defendant ‘Reggie.’
“There are not any information as to how Edwin Castro got here into possession of the profitable Powerball ticket from ‘Reggie.’”
Castro – who obtained a $997.6 million lump sum payout – can also be searching for to quash the notion he was served the lawsuit filed by Jorge Rivera.
Instead, his legal professionals argued, Rivera’s workforce wrongly named Castro’s father within the go well with and served the elder Castro the papers.
The “‘Edwin Castro’ who really obtained the papers, was not the winner of the November 7, 2022, Powerball drawing,” the movement states, “and he does not reside at the handle erroneously listed within the proof of service.”
The submitting explains how papers have been served to Edwin H. Castro, the daddy of lottery winner Edwin G. Castro.
“Edwin H. Castro was not licensed to just accept service on behalf of Edwin G. Castro, the precise Powerball winner,” the movement states.
Rivera claims he reported the theft to police and the California Lottery, and repeatedly tried to inform the company of his issues.
He believes retailer surveillance pictures will show his case and has requested the state lotto company “make obtainable for our overview all video depicting the acquisition of the profitable ticket.”
The California Lottery has mentioned it “stays assured that Edwin Castro is the rightful winner,” and pointed to rigorous checks they do to confirm those that hit the jackpot.
Richeda additionally mentioned she and her shopper are “in communication with” the lottery fee.
Meanwhile, Castro has bought two multimillion-dollar California properties and a vintage $250,000 Porsche convertible. A listening to concerning the lawsuit is scheduled for July.
