The money was deposited into various bank accounts, in Kurland’s name, to provide the anonymity that the couple coveted. They opted for the cash jackpot of $878 million before taxes, with Kurland netting a healthy $200,000 fee for his consultation. VfwjF4LoIX- TODAY October 20, 2018Īfter calling him from a burner phone in December 2018, Kurland helped the couple collect their winnings, organising a meeting with the South Carolina Lottery Commission to claim the prize. What should you do if lightning strikes and you win? Jason Kurland weighs in. Last night's #MegaMillions had no winner, which means we all still have a chance of claiming that now $1.6 billion jackpot. They saw Kurland appear on a morning television show and, despite finding his ‘Lottery Lawyer’ moniker gimmicky, decided that he was best-placed to offer assistance. We considered, you know, investment firms that kind of thing,” she said.
They wanted to remain anonymous and realised they needed professional advice to deal with such a huge amount of money.
She and her husband were in their late 50s and decided to stash the ticket away until they knew how to proceed. It was the largest single-ticket lotto win in US history and she felt a mix of “astonishment, disbelief, joy, anxiety,” according to her court testimony. This is her story… WinningĪ middle-aged woman from Carolina, who testified under the pseudonym Beth Smith, discovered that a Mega Millions ticket she had purchased the day before had landed her a jackpot of $1.5 billion. The biggest victim was a South Carolina woman who is thought to have lost around $87 million as a result of Kurland’s deception. Manhattan Attorney Damian Williams, whose office prosecuted the case, said Kurland used his position “to steer his clients to invest millions of dollars in companies that he secretly owned and took illegal kickbacks based on his clients’ investments without their knowledge.” The self-proclaimed ‘Lottery Lawyer’ Jason Kurland was convicted last month on five counts of wire fraud, honest services wire fraud and money laundering.
A New York attorney has been found guilty of defrauding lottery-winning clients out of tens of millions of dollars.