A LOTERY whistleblower – who claims he was fired for questioning huge payouts in California – has revealed every step used to prove a huge windfall amid the confusing Edwin Castro lawsuit.
The Powerball winner is still being sued for allegedly cashing a stolen ticket and winning the $2.04 billion jackpot.
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He is being supported by the California Lottery and his accuser, Jose Rivera, has been accused of filing a false police report.
But authorities still refused to release video of the ticket sales, which allegedly proves Castro is the rightful winner, raising questions about the case.
Las Vegas resident Reid Galbreath, a former California Lottery investigator, previously told The US Sun he believes Castro’s win is suspicious.
Now, he is revealing more about the process after the draw, as authorities said they carry out rigorous checks to prove that the lottery ticket holder is the true winner.
Galbreath said: “The California Lottery uses internal systems to track each ticket. This includes online games like Powerball and scratch cards.
“This system tells investigators when the ticket was sold, where the ticket was sold, and all locations where the ticket was validated and checked to see if it was a winner.
“The process of validating a winning ticket, or verifying information provided by a claimant, must involve the investigator obtaining surveillance video of the location where the ticket was sold and each location where the ticket was verified.
“This helps ensure that the same individual is the purchaser and the person validating the ticket.”
The problem is that the process is not transparent.
Reid Galbreath
He accused the California Lottery of “departing from its mission” in recent years, which is to maximize funding for public education.
Galbreath believes the system is victimizing in situations like the Castro case because Rivera, an unemployed landscaper, doesn’t have the resources to fight back.
He previously admitted that he is “broke” and lost several lawyers before finally hiring a new lawyer recently, who he said was “expensive.”
“One of the main problems with the way the lottery currently manages public money is the lack of transparency and integrity in the operation,” said Galbreath.
“The lottery is trusted to issue billions in public money with little oversight and is rarely expected to provide evidence to justify the payments it is making.
“The money administered by the lottery is intended solely to maximize supplemental funding for public schools.
“This is why playing the lottery is so attractive to many, because ultimately the money you spend goes to a good cause.
“The problem is that the process is not transparent and is not required to comply with the same checks and balances expected of private gaming establishments.
“The California Lottery is a public entity much like the California State Auditor, which released a report on the many ways the lottery violated regulations.”
The latest report available online from 2022 and obtained by The US Sun shows several recommendations from the State Auditor.
One included; “Two California State Lottery employees engaged in time abuse for nearly two years and received at least $16,000 in wages for hours they did not work.”
HUGE PROBLEMS
CBS News has also previously investigated several cases, with reporter David Goldstein writing about a man who received a Powerball check for nearly $2 million even though he admitted he had lost his ticket.
The news outlet reported that the lottery’s chief investigator said in his report that he could not provide evidence that he was the winner, which is required by law.
Galbreath continued: “There is already speculation among other state lottery players about the number of winners coming from California.
“Why not end the speculation and concern by simply proving the facts that led him to pay more than a billion dollars in public money?”
Edwin Castro Powerball Winning Timeline
When and why Castro was prosecuted
On November 7, 2022, Castro purchased a winning Powerball ticket at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California.
The grand prize was $2.04 billion at the time – the largest in US history.
On February 14, 2023, the California Lottery announced Castro’s win, and he took home a one-time payment of $997.6 million.
Castro’s identity was disclosed, but little information was known about the former mechanic.
In May 2023, Jose Rivera, a California gardener, filed a lawsuit claiming he was the rightful owner of the golden ticket.
Rivera claimed that its former owner Urachi F. Romero stole the ticket before it ended up in Castro’s hands.
Since filing the lawsuit, Rivera has been accused of filing a false police report and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation by a judge.
However, Rivera pleaded not guilty to the charge, passed the evaluation and continues to defend his story.
Galbreath claims he was fired after disagreeing with the California Lottery’s decision to pay a “winner” in 2015.
They declined to comment when contacted by The US Sun.
Meanwhile, the lottery previously released a statement supporting Castro in his legal fight, despite declining to share the video.
Spokeswoman Carolyn Becker said: “When it comes to the process of verifying big winners, the California Lottery has the utmost confidence in its process to do so.
“The California Lottery remains confident that Edwin Castro is the rightful winner of the $2.04 billion jackpot resulting from the November 2022 Powerball drawing.”
Castro’s former lawyer, David De Paoli, also stated that he “personally saw the surveillance footage from the gas station where the ticket was purchased, describing it as “crystal clear.”
“Edwin Castro bought the winning Powerball ticket without question,” he added.
Rivera is scheduled to appear in court in July for both his civil and criminal cases.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
