Saturday 27 September
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Salud Orders
Removal Of Chinese Candies From Store
Shelves
"Aguacero,
Granizada y Nube Negra"
Costa Rica's Lottery In
Problems With Unclaimed
Winnings
Chinese Foreign Minister
Meets Costa Rican
Counterpart On Ties
Constitutional Court
Ratifies Land
Expropriations At Las
Baulas park
Ocean Floor Geysers Warm
Flowing Sea Water
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Costa Rica's Lottery In
Problems With Unclaimed
Winnings
Rodrigo Zavavelta,
looking through a drawer
one day found the
lottery tickets for the
"Gordo Navideño" last
December and checking
the numbers was
surprised to learn that
with his tickets he
could claim a prize
worth ¢67.5 milllion
colones (us$122.700).
But the bigger surprise
for Zavaleta was to
learn that he was to
late to claim the prize.
At 85 years of age, Zavaleta decided to go
head to head with the
Junta de Protección
Social (JPS) - national
lottery - hiring a
lawyer to file a writ of
habeas Corpus with the
Constitutional Court to
challenge the 60 claim
time set by the JPS.
On Tuesday the
Constitutional Court
ruled in favour of
Zavaleta and ordered the
JPS to pay the claim.
Friday, another lottery
winner in the same
situation, Plutarco
Badilla Núñez, a farmer
in Miramar de Puntareans,
hired the same lawyer
hired by Zavaleta to
claim his ¢50 million
colones prized he never
claimed from the
Father's Day lottery.
"The tickets are
authentic and Mr.
Badilla is identified as
the owner of the 'pedacitos'
of lottery, but was told
by JPS officials that he
could claim the prize
because the time for
claims had expried.
However, we will take
the necessary steps to
solve this problem",
said lawyer, Rodrigo
Rosales.
Rosales added that "we
are all equal before the
law and the Political
constitution of Costa
Rica".
For the time being
Plutarco can only wait
in hope that he will be
able to claim his prize
like Zavaleta and
convert himself into a "millionario"
overnight.
The Constitutional Court
decision has opened a
Pandora's Box for the
JPS as it may now be a
subject of all types of
claims for prizes from
past winners who failed
to check their tickets
and claim their prize
within the allotted
time.
Rosales said he would be
accompanying Plutarco at
the JPS claims window
and if refused will
begin an administrative
action against the JPS
and file it with the
Constitutional Court to
force the JPS to pay up.
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