Woman Forced to Return Winning Lottery Ticket Worth Over $4 Million

Beverlie Seltzer, a woman who worked as a shop worker in and Acme store in Pennsylvania, has been forced to hand back a $4.15 million winning lottery ticket. A Pennsylvania court has ruled that it belonged to the supermarket where the ticket was printed. 

Seltzer claimed that the lottery slip was hers, but the court ruled that the ticket was printed by mistake and was the store’s property. 

State Judge Mary Jane Bowers stated the Seltzer found the winning ticket after the lottery numbers had been announced. She also said that Seltzer “ran a new lottery ticket through the till, paying $10, but took the winning slip instead and claimed it as her own.” 

“According to Penn Live, the disagreement centers on the system governing tickets printed accidentally. Stores must pay the lottery commission for each lottery slip mistakenly produced—but they are also allowed to keep any winnings.”

The Judge also stated that there was CCTV footage that showed Seltzer taking the winning ticket instead of leaving it for the store to claim. 

In an earlier hearing, a county judge ruled that Acme was the true owner of the successful ticket, holding that “Acme became the owner of the mistake ticket as soon as it was printed,” and that Seltzer was “devoid of merit.” 

“Even viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Ms Seltzer, no reasonable fact-finder could conclude that Ms Seltzer acted with the good faith belief that she was permitted by law or by Acme’s policies to give Acme $10 in exchange for $4,150,000. “

Unfortunately for Seltzer, she will not get to enjoy the winnings of the lottery and even worse, must essentially give the winnings away. 

See Tom Batchelor, Woman Forced to Return Winning Lottery Ticket Worth Over $4 Million, News Week December 16, 2020. 

Special thanks to David S. Luber (Florida Probate Attorney) for bringing this article to my attention.