However, the investigating staff admitted that the case involved a complex range of issues. Mr. Xiao's lawyer informed the lottery bureau that the owner of the lottery ticket found Mr. Xiao through another lawyer, and indeed Mr. Xiao did not know the owner of the ticket. Mr. Xiao agreed to claim the prize on behalf of this lawyer, but due to the attorney-client relationship between them, confidentiality was required.
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On January 29th, according to the World Journal of the United States, Mr. Xiao from New York State (Crawford Shaw), who held a winning lottery ticket worth millions in Iowa, remained hidden for a year before showing up two hours before the ticket expired. He claimed the $16.5 million prize (AP reported it as $14.3 million) under the name of a foundation he represented. This alone was intriguing enough. Later, this man again failed to meet the Iowa Lottery Bureau’s request to explain the source of the ticket and announced on the evening of the 26th that he would forfeit the prize "to avoid controversy," raising doubts once more and prompting investigators to start their investigation.
Mr. Xiao earlier told lottery officials that all income from Hexham Investment Trust was transferred to a company in Belize, Central America, which is also a tax haven.
Since his appearance on December 29th last year, Mr. Xiao has consistently refused to disclose the identity of the person who purchased the ticket or those who owned the ticket before him. He said he did not know the owner of the ticket, and the owner did not wish to be identified.
The Iowa Criminal Investigation Division stated that they will investigate whether any illegalities occurred from the purchase of the ticket to its redemption. The head of the investigation, Dave Button, acknowledged that the investigators could not force the 76-year-old New York lawyer who came forward to claim the prize to reveal the truth.
The identity of Mr. Xiao, who stepped forward to claim the prize, is shrouded in mystery and complexity. He claimed the prize on behalf of Hexham Investment Trust, which uses a post office box address in Bedford, New York. Mr. Xiao lives in a wealthy area of Bedford with his daughter, son-in-law, and CEO Gregory Fleming, who is the president of Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
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Mr. Xiao hit someone on the head with a bottle causing death, according to the Beijing First Branch Prosecution.