Lotto winner nearly said tata to his millions

Wednesday, November 08, 2006 posted 04:05 AM EST

"Thank you for being a millionaire in Limpopo."

That is what an ecstatic Lazarus Letsoalo allegedly said to Lotto jackpot winner Andrew Phoshoko before trying to capitalise on his ignorance and con him out of his R5-million prize.

Letsoalo, of Thabini near Tzaneen, is on trial in the Johannesburg magistrate's court for fraud after an incident in July 2003 during which he allegedly took Phoshoko's winning Lotto ticket and attempted to claim the money.

He has denied the charge.

Phoshoko's cousin, Daniel Phoshoko, testified on Tuesday that Andrew - who has a Grade 9 education - asked him for advice on how to claim his windfall.

As the cousins had never been to Gauteng, where they wanted to claim the prize, Daniel decided to phone his former employer, Letsoalo, to help with transport.

When Letsoalo arrived at the Phoshoko home, he gave them a broad smile and stiff handshakes before turning to Andrew and saying: "Thank you for being a millionaire in Limpopo".

"He then told us he would drive us to Pretoria to cash the ticket, but suggested we first go his house as he had something he wanted to show us," said Daniel.

He had the public gallery in stitches when he said Letsoalo had offered Andrew his massive double-storey house and everything inside it.

In return he would keep the ticket and walk out with only a jacket.

When they refused the offer, Letsoalo took them to the police station, where he said he wanted to see his lawyer.

Daniel said that when Letsoalo came out of the police station, he handed Andrew a copy of the ticket and said he would keep the original.

Letsoalo then took the cousins back home and promised to return an hour later so they all could go to Gauteng. Before he left, he gave Andrew R500 because "the Lotto ticket will take a while to cash".

When hours passed and there was no sign of Letsoalo, the cousins called Uthingo's offices in Johannesburg and reported the Lotto ticket stolen.

Uthingo contacted the Phoshokos and asked them to a meeting in Pretoria, where they identified Letsoalo.

The case was postponed to December 5.

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