Taxi Drivers Feud Over Jackpot
Fourteen taxi drivers are fighting to share in a $90-million lottery ticket, contending they were part of a pool that bought the ticket.
The cabbies’ attorney concedes they didn’t contribute to the pool for last week’s drawing, but they have regularly paid into the kitty since the lottery pool was formed last month.
The pool was organized by 37 cabbies at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport--all from the West African country of Ghana, said attorney Howard Stopeck, who is representing the 14.
Pool leader Max Ossei-Wasu got $5 contributions last week from 23 of the drivers before buying the winning ticket for Friday’s drawing, Stopeck said.
The 14 drivers don’t know whether the ticket was bought with money collected last week or with the pool’s small winnings from earlier drawings, Stopeck said. A judge has issued a restraining order preventing Ossei-Wasu from claiming the prize.
The ticket buyer chose the cash option, so the jackpot would be a onetime payout of $48.5 million before taxes.
Split 37 ways, that comes to $1.3 million per person before taxes; in a 23-way split, the take would be $2.1 million.
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