In the port town of Zeebrugge, near the city of Bruges, a 28-year-old Algerian man, who lives in a migrant community trying to cross into England, bought a crash card for 5 euros from a supermarket on 23 March.
The lucky winner, who won a prize of 250 thousand euros from the card he scratched, applied to the cash register of the supermarket.
DISCONNECTED
Market employees stated that bonuses exceeding 2 thousand euros were paid by the Belgian Lottery Administration and recommended that they contact them. The lucky Algerian, who did not have a residence permit and asylum application in Belgium, later disappeared without a trace.
CARD CONFIDENTIAL
The lucky winner, whose name and address is unknown, only had a view on the supermarket’s security cameras and a photograph taken by a local priest. Last Friday, three people applied to the Belgian Lottery Authority with the winning card. However, they were detained by the police because they did not look like the lucky ones on the security cameras. The scratch card was also confiscated by the police for security purposes.
CANNOT OPEN BANK ACCOUNT
However, he applied to the police station in Bruges the previous day, together with an Algerian immigrant lawyer. The West Flanders Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that this person was the lucky one on the security cameras. According to Belgian law, a bonus of 250,000 euros must be deposited into a bank account. However, the lucky one cannot open a bank account in Belgium because he does not have the documents.
PROMISED NOT TO BE DEPORTED
The lottery administration had previously declared that the Algerian winner is entitled to the winnings. Now it is being investigated how this money will be paid. The Lottery Administration states that the money can be deposited into another account if the winner wishes. The other three people, who had been detained for a short time, were released. It remains to be determined whether these people stole the scratch card or if they collaborated with the real winner to get the money.
“We are looking for documents that can prove his identity. He will need to contact his family in Algeria,” Alexander Verstraete, the Algerian lucky’s lawyer, told AFP news agency.
Verstraete said Belgian authorities had promised not to deport the lucky winner until he got his bonus.
According to Belgian media, the lucky migrant arrived in Spain from Algeria by boat four months ago.
The aim of the Algerian immigrant, who reached France and Belgium on foot from there, was to pass to England. However, he changed his mind after winning the jackpot.
Now he wants to stay in Belgium and make a home. “I will look for a wife. I will find someone with my heart, not with my money,” the lucky Algerian told the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws (HLN).