The person who bought the winning Powerball ticket at a New Jersey store for last month’s $221 million jackpot has stepped forward to anonymously claim the big prize, state lottery officials announced Monday.
The Powerball winner, who is permitted to remain anonymous under state law, chose the cash option of $104.7 million, New Jersey lottery officials said. That amounts to an estimated $71 million after federal and state taxes.
The winning Powerball ticket for the June 10 drawing was sold at Preet Food Mart in Lindenwold in Camden County.
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The store’s owner said he believed he sold the winning ticket to a regular customer just prior to the drawing and that the winner was a school bus driver who regularly buys $60 in tickets. But the New Jersey lottery announcement on Monday cast some doubt about the occupation of the winner.
“They heard the jackpot discussed on the radio, but some of the reported facts did not match,” state lottery officials said in a statement. “However, something told them to check their ticket and they got the surprise of a lifetime. Their Quick Pick ticket was a match. They immediately called a close friend to share the news and the friend could not believe it.”
The winner has not made any plans for the big windfall, lottery officials said. The winning number for the June 10 drawing were: 3, 10, 33, 58 and 59. The Powerball was 9 with a Power Play of 2x.
The Preet Food Mart owners, husband and wife Tejinder Singh and Rajvinder Kaur Ghotra, received a $30,000 bonus check for selling the winning ticket and previously said they plan to spend it on travel.
The Powerball jackpot win was the second major multi-state lottery prize won in New Jersey this year.
The $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot won by a ticket sold at a ShopRite in Neptune in Monmouth County remains unclaimed. The winner has a year from the date of the March 26 drawing to come forward and claim the monster jackpot.
New Jersey Lottery officials recommend that the winner sign the ticket, make copies of it, contact professional legal and financial advisors, and call us at 1-800-222-0996 to file the claim.
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