LOTTO LAG
Lottery ‘winner’ conman who claimed £2.5million using fake ticket is freed from jail after home seized by prosecutors
The fraudster's home was sold for a huge sum
A LOTTO conman has been freed from jail after "winning" £2.5million with a fake ticket.
Edward Putman, 54, was jailed for nine years in October 2019 for stealing from the National Lottery with the aide of Camelot insider Giles Knibbs.
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But he served less than half of his sentence - and is now back on the streets.
The move has left pals of Giles furious after he took his own life.
One family friend told : “Giles is gone and Putman is free – how is that fair?
“Giles was exploited and took his own life.
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“Now Putman has been freed and has the rest of his life ahead of him.”
During his court case jurors heard Putman had conspired with Lottery insider Knibbs, who worked in Camelot’s security department, to present a fake ticket.
The actual winning ticket, which was never claimed, was bought at a Co-op store in Worcester on March 11, 2009.
It had the winning numbers 6, 9, 20, 21, 31 and 34.
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On August 28 that year, just before the 180-day claim deadline, Putman called Camelot to say he'd found the winning ticket under the seat of his van.
It was missing its bottom part, which contained unique numbers.
However, Camelot accepted the forgery as genuine - even though it was missing a barcode.
The fraud began to unravel on October 5, 2015, when Mr Knibbs, 38, committed suicide at Ivinghoe Beacon in Bucks.
He had confessed to friends that he and Putman had "conned" the Lottery.
The two men had rowed about how the winnings were divided.
In June 2015, Putman had gone to the police alleging Knibbs had threatened to reveal his previous convictions for the rape of a 17-year-old girl in 1991 and a benefits fraud in 2012.
The friend of Knibbs’ family added: “They’ve never got to the bottom of what he did with the money. It’s horrific.”
In January last year forensic accounts were looking to flog his possessions to settle his debts and he was ordered to pay back almost £940,000 within three months.
But a year on he had only repaid £94,000 - and his home near the M25 was taken off him.
The house has now sold for £1.2million at auction
The Crown Prosecution Service have confirmed Putman did not have additional time was not added to his sentence for failing to settle the confiscation order.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Offenders released on licence are kept under close supervision and subject to strict conditions for the remainder of their sentence.
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";They face recall to prison if they breach them.”
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.
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