Orange County man says he won Powerball jackpot, but hasn’t received any money weeks later

Orange County man claims to be the winner of $44 million prize powerball jackpotBut weeks after the drawing, he says he still hasn’t seen a cent.

Jerry likes to play lottery often.

“Fantasy 5, Powerball… Super Lotto, Mega… I play all the games,” he said.

Before the Powerball drawing on August 19, he walked into his neighborhood Ralphs to buy lottery tickets with some of his favorite numbers. All five numbers were drawn, including the number 10 he chose as the Powerball.

“It was exciting in a really subtle way because you don’t anticipate hitting all six. Six numbers on the Powerball is… you’re most likely to die sooner… You’re going to go out and get hit by lightning sooner. You win that one,” he said.

But more than nine weeks later, Jerry is still waiting for payment.

“The process is really horrible for a winner of a big… any big lottery win,” he said. “They won’t tell you by this date, you will receive the funds. They won’t tell you. They leave it open, so you’re sitting, waiting every day… (hoping that you will get these funds.)”

Carolyn Becker of the California State Lottery said the fastest a winner can be paid is four weeks, but that doesn’t happen very often.

The California State Lottery would not comment specifically on Jerry’s claim, but said anyone claiming to have a winning ticket must go through a lengthy investigation process. That includes an investigation by its law enforcement team and a cross-check that the presumptive winner does not owe the state any money in taxes or child support.

Lottery officials say the goal is to finish each case in 6 to 8 weeks, but it could take longer.

“The California Lottery processes, believe it or not, more than 10,000 claims a month, so we want to manage the expectations of our winners,” Becker added.

Jerry is hopeful that his winnings from that $44 million jackpot will be deposited into this bank account sooner rather than later so he can start enjoying this life-changing amount of money.