A LOTTERY conman could be set to rake in £350,000 while behind bars from the sale of his seized home.
Edward Putman, now 56, was found guilty in October 2019 of using a fake winning ticket to claim a £2.5m jackpot in 2009.
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.
Now the house has sold for £1.2million at auction – meaning Putman could have more than £355,000 left over after settling his debt, reports The Mirror.
The property was valued at just £700,000 but its thought the land next to the house made it appealing for developers.
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However, it is unlikely that Putman will get his money, according to the CPS as the court has the power to increase the value of the confiscation order.
James Ashworth, of Landwood Property Auctions, said: “The property exceeded our expectations with more than one bid per second.
“The competition generated was fantastic and it will be interesting to see what the buyer does with it.”
The Crown Prosecution Service said: “In any given case, if there is a surplus following the sale of assets, we will always review the Confiscation Order and, where appropriate, apply to increase the order, until the full criminal benefit has been repaid.”
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During his original court case jurors heard Putman had conspired with Lottery insider Giles 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 and 34.
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.
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