That’s one explanation for a weird story where a New York lawyer acting on behalf of holder of a winning lottery ticket purchased at a Des Moines convenience store let the ticket expire rather than revealing the identity of the ticket owner.  

The ticket was turned in hours before its expiration by a Des Moines law firm hired by a New York attorney employed by a Belize trust claiming to be the ticket owner.  The lottery wouldn’t approve the prize without knowing who was behind the trust, and the trust wasn’t telling.  Apparently $14 million wasn’t enough money to get the human(s) behind the trust to come out of the cold.

 

It’s hard to imagine what would cause somebody to walk away from a $14 million prize. … Could unpaid taxes be the problem?  Belize is noted as a tax haven,  Could the winner be a Des Moines millionaire-next-door who has been stashing money illegally in Belize, didn’t want to draw attention, and was willing to claim the prize only anonymously?  If so, it seems like a play gone wrong.  Winning the lottery would seem to be a godsend for a tax evader. Suddenly nobody would think twice about your new sports car and big house in Florida.