New York attorney abandons claim to Iowa state lottery jackpot worth $14.3 million dollars

DES MOINES | January 27, 2012

Crawford S. Shaw, a Yale graduate and attorney licensed to practice in New York, said he represents a trust that owned a winning Iowa Lottery jackpot ticket purchased at a convenience store in December of 2010 that was associated with criminal proceedings and bankruptcy filings in New York and Delaware for which the clients involved with the trust are in Belize and as such have abandoned the claim for the jackpot worth $14.3 million dollars. The Iowa Lottery has confirmed the ticket as authentic.

The Associated Press states that Shaw is the former C.E.O. of Industrial Enterprises of America Inc., a bankrupt public company District Attorney's office in Manhattan said was looted in a securities fraud scheme valued at $100 million.

According to a report in MSNBC, Shaw referred a reporter to a statement issued by a law firm based in Des Moines that had performed work on behalf of the trust which said the identity of the buyer(s) of the ticket were unknown even to Shaw and offered to authorize the Iowa Lottery to pay the winnings, after taxes, to charities, but lottery officials declined, saying no payments would be made until the identities of the buyers were known.

The Iowa Attorney General's Office and Division of Criminal Investigation announced a criminal probe into the matter.

According to the Des Moines Register, the ticket was signed by Shaw on behalf of an company called Hexham Investments Trust. The name Hexham, however, was misspelled on the signature.

Apparently, Iowa Lottery officials have given the winners until 3 p..m. Friday to reveal themselves or forfeit the prize although Crawford S. Shaw as Trustee of the Hexham Investments Trust officially and formally withdrew the jackpot claim of the trust.

The Iowa State Lottery issued the following statement Friday:

"Iowa Lottery officials met Thursday evening with local counsel from the Davis Brown Law Firm representing Hexham Investments Trust. Following that meeting, Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich released the following statement:

This has been and continues to be the strangest situation that we can recall in the 26-year history of our lottery.

...

During conversations with the lottery, Mr. Shaw specified that he is not the beneficiary of Hexham Investments Trust, only its lawyer and trustee. He also specified that he is not the person who purchased the winning ticket in Des Moines, and stated that the recipient of Hexham Investments Trust was a corporation in the country of Belize. He stated that he ultimately did not know the identity of the winner(s).

Through this process, we have tried our best to remain open and transparent, while protecting the integrity of the Iowa Lottery and its games.”