(Almost) perfect crime
Lotto scammer raked in £2.5million from fake ticket – now he loses all his belongings
It was just a coincidence that brought the National Lottery to the scammer’s trail.
© Yui Mok / Picture Alliance
Edward Putman scammed the lottery with a counterfeit ticket. Nobody noticed the fraud, only when his accomplice killed himself was he tracked down. Putman refused to return the money, and his property is now being seized.
Edward Putman had devised the perfect crime. Along with an accomplice who worked at Britain’s National Lottery, he forged a winning ticket in 2009 and collected £2.5million for the ticket. Putman said he found the ticket under the seat of his van. Normally it is not possible to simply fake a hit afterwards. But his sidekick, Giles Knibbs, worked on the lottery’s security team. He accepted the ticket and Putman got the money. Even then Putman was imprisoned, but not because of the lottery fraud, but because he continued to claim social benefits despite winning millions.
Apart from this mishap, the two cashed in and from then on lived in grand style. But the admittedly ingenious plan ultimately failed. Knibbs thought he had been cheated by Putman, was also remorseful and suffered from other problems. He was a vulnerable character and arguably not a savvy criminal. The same weakness that made it possible for Putman to wrap him up eventually led to Knibbs committing suicide.
Encumbered in the estate
Notes on the coup were found in his estate – this is how Edward Putman was tracked down. But initially he could not be convicted because the lottery could not find the ticket – now a crucial piece of evidence – after all these years. It only surfaced in 2017, and so Putman was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2019.
Putman, who had previously been convicted of rape, was cut from a different cloth than his accomplice. He refused any cooperation with the authorities trying to trace the rest of the money. He was ordered by the court to repay more than £900,000.
Putman was too greedy
It didn’t do him any good. At first the blockade had the effect of aggravating the sentence because he obviously showed no remorse. And he now has little chance of enjoying his post-custodial wealth. According to a recent verdict, prosecutors are not only allowed to search his property, they are even allowed to sell it. This would affect his Hertfordshire home, which is estimated at £700,000. Another property that he wanted to convert into a hotel is also likely to be lost. A source told the Mirror that prosecutors would have settled for less. “Putman had a chance to settle with them, but he’s too greedy – it’s out of his hands now.”
Source: Mirror