Multi-million-pound lottery winner Edward Putman has been charged after a three-year police investigation into an alleged lottery fraud.
An investigation was launched in 2015 by Hertfordshire’s Serious Fraud and Cyber Unit, after receiving evidence that the 53-year-old’s £2.5 million lottery win 9 years ago was not the result of a genuine claim.
“The incident occurred in 2009 when a claim was made for an outstanding lottery prize. A lottery ticket was submitted and the prize of £2.5m was paid out.” said a statement from Hertfordshire Police.
The man from Station Road, Kings Langley was charged with fraud by false representation following an alleged fraudulent claim of a lottery prize.
A spokesman for Camelot, operator of the UK National Lottery, stated that it was “not appropriate for us to comment at this stage, given that the matter is now the subject of criminal proceedings”. In 2015, Camelot was fined £3 million by the Gambling Commission for paying out on the claim. The gambling watchdog discovered that the “winning ticket” submitted did not have a working bar code but the winnings were still paid out.
Putman has been released on bail and is due to appear at St Albans Magistrates’ Court on October 16.
