A woman who claimed to have won the $1 billion Powerball prize in California is a fraud who “just wanted to get on the news.” Los Angeles news station KTLA featured the hysterical woman running around Las Palmitas Mini Mart, the bodega where the winning lottery ticket was sold, and crying as she thanked everyone for changing her life.
However, Sarai Palacios, the granddaughter of store owner Nabor Herrera, says the woman didn’t win anything at all. In fact, the actual winner has yet to come forward to claim their prize, she told The Daily Mail.
“She didn’t win – I’m not sure why she did that. I guess she just wanted to be on TV,” Palacios said> “We don’t know who the winner is yet. They still haven’t come forward.”
The family will be hoping the winner does come forward soon, especially since they’re entitled to $1 million for selling the winning ticket. Herrera said he plans to spend the money on a fancy vacation and on setting up college funds for the young people in his family.
Herrera previously told reporters that he was unaware that the store had sold the winning ticket until the morning after when he arrived at the shop. “I tell you, it’s a surprise for me. I didn’t know what it is — filming or what,” he told KTLA. He also insisted that he remembers the faces of his customers and never sold a ticket to the woman claiming to be the winner.
Still, that didn’t stop the mystery woman from stumbling around the shop shouting “Thank you, God!” and proclaiming that she’s “so scared right now” before running down the street and hopping into a dark BMW as cameras pursued her. When asked in the shop if she was the winner of the huge sum, she confirmed that she was, but that’s clearly not the case.
