THE WINNER of a billion-dollar Powerball prize is yet to claim her reward after an impersonator pretended to win on TV.
Los Angeles resident Yanira Alvarez won the lottery in July 2023.
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Alvarez didn’t claim his prize, but that didn’t stop people from trying to claim his reward as their own.
Last year, a woman who appeared hysterical was caught on camera claiming she had won the lottery.
The woman wore a hat in the video and cried desperately as she hugged several people, reports The Daily Mail.
After reporters asked for comment, she shook her head.
“I can’t, I can’t,” she said, before fleeing the store.
“I have to find him,” she said as she walked away from reporters.
The granddaughter of the minimarket owner who sold the winning ticket revealed that the woman was not the winner.
“She didn’t win,” she said.
“I don’t know why she did it.”
“I think she just wanted to be on TV.”
The minimarket owners were rewarded with one million dollars for selling the winning ticket.
One of the store owners claimed that he had sold several lottery tickets that day and had no idea that he had sold a winning ticket.
They claimed they would take a family trip to celebrate.
Alvarez is officially one of the biggest lottery winners in history.
She became California’s third 10-digit Powerball winner last year, matching all five white balls and the Powerball number.
As she did not claim her winnings before April 15th this year, she will be forced to pay a large amount of her winnings on tax returns.
Because she won a 1.08 billion jackpot, taxes indicate she would have to pay back $133.9 million.
Typically, lottery winners have two options.
They can choose to take home a lump sum or receive their earnings as annuity payments over 30 years.
Top US Lottery Winners
Millions dream of winning the lottery and finding fame and fortune. These are the biggest winners in US lottery history.
- Edwin Castro – $2.04 billion, Powerball, November 8, 2022, in California.
- Theodorus Struyck – $1.765 billion, Powerball, October 11, 2023, California.
- Unknown Winner – $1.602 Billion, Mega Millions, August 8, 2023, Florida.
- Marvin and Mae Acosta of Los Angeles, California, John and Lisa Robinson of Munford, Tennessee, and Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt of Melbourne Beach, Florida – $1.586 billion, Powerball, January 13, 2016.
- Unknown Winner – $1.537 Billion, Mega Millions, October 23, 2018, from South Carolina.
- Winner unknown – he sued his child’s mother to keep his identity hidden – $1.348 billion, Mega Millions, January 13, 2023, from Maine.
- Unknown Winner – $1.337 Billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022, from Illinois.
- Winner unknown – $1.326 billion, Powerball, April 7, 2024, from Oregon.
- Yanira Álvarez – $1.08 billion Powerball, July 19, 2023 in California.
- Wolverine FLL Lottery Club – $1.05 Billion, Mega Millions, January 22, 2021, from Michigan.
- Winner unknown – $842.4 million Powerball, January 1, 2024, from Michigan.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
