Lottery winners to get money Thursday

Thursday, June 08, 2006 posted 12:01 PM EDT

PIERRE, S.D. -- Thursday was expected to be the real red-letter day for the Pierre couple who won the May 17 Powerball jackpot.

State Treasurer Vern Larson said his office would wire nearly $39 million in lottery winnings Thursday to Lan "Bill" Nguyen's bank account.

The money from the Multi-State Lottery Association was to be wired to the treasurer Wednesday and then wired Thursday to Nguyen.

Nguyen correctly picked six Powerball numbers to claim the $116.8 million jackpot. By choosing a lump sum payment instead of 29 annual payments, he gets $38,688,566 after initial tax withholding of 25 percent.

Nguyen, his wife, Tina, and their son, Alex, are on an extended vacation, said Bill Van Camp, who is their lawyer. Van Camp noted that Nguyen, 37, is an avid outdoorsman who moved from Vietnam to the United State about 20 years ago.

"He's a big hunter, and I suggested that he go to Argentina to goose hunt, and he said, `Maybe later,'" Van Camp said.

Nguyen came into the law firm unannounced and asked for Van Camp, telling him of the winning lottery ticket. He did not have the ticket with him, and Van Camp advised him to immediately put it in a safe-deposit box.

"I didn't see the ticket myself until yesterday (Tuesday), and I really didn't want to see it," Van Camp said Wednesday.

The Nguyens redeemed the ticket Tuesday morning at the state lottery office and left Pierre.

Although waiting nearly three weeks to come forward, their secret did not leak out.

"It's really a testament to the Nguyens that they were able to keep it quiet," Van Camp said. "That was their choice, and they pulled it off."

The Nguyens' lawyer said the time was spent planning for the future.

"There was a lot of stuff to get in order. They wanted to sell their business, and that took some time. There's a lot of other matters, such as personal planning and estate planning that they had to get in order. They wanted to get that in order so that they could take off two or three months and feel comfortable doing it."

The Nguyens owned a nail salon and tanning business at the Pierre Mall. They sold it to an employee after learning that they had the winning Powerball ticket.

The couple avoided the media after getting the ticket validated, leaving lottery officials to later identify them and provide some details about the family. The Nguyens also refused to allow the lottery to take their picture.

Although details surrounding the purchase of the ticket were revealed, the couple said nothing about how they would spend the money _ other than to tell Van Camp and lottery officials that some would go to charity.

"There are some local charities that have helped their family, so they do have charitable intent," Van Camp said. "Beyond that, I'm not going to say anything."

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