Thieves used a stolen card to buy a winning French lottery ticket worth 500,000 euros or $523,000
ByThe Associated Press
February 22, 2025, 9: 53 AM
PARIS — Thieves used a stolen card to buy a winning French lottery ticket worth 500,000 euros ($523,000). But they vanished before cashing in —- and now they’re among France’s most famous fugitives.
The man whose card was stolen, identified in police documents as Jean-David E., is offering to split the cash with the lucky winners. He wants his wallet back, too.
The thieves, meanwhile, face the risk of arrest. As of Saturday, the state lottery operator La Française des Jeux, or FDJ, said that no one had submitted the ticket to cash out.
″It’s an incredible story, but it’s all true,″ Jean-David’s lawyer, Pierre Debuisson, told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Jean-David discovered earlier this