Lottery fraudster Edward Putman could face more years in prison

The former bricklayer is set to lose a house and land in Kings Langley where he had planned to build a hotel.

If he does not hand over his assets - valued at just under £940,000 - within three months, six years will be added to the nine year sentence he is already serving.

Putman, now 56, was found guilty in October 2019 of using a forged winning ticket to claim a £2.5 million jackpot in 2009.

His house in Station Road looks unkempt with the curtains drawn shut and his land resembles a vehicle graveyard with at least twenty cars and vans parked up alongside caravans and mobile homes.

Land at Edward Putman's house in Kings Langley. Credit: Google Maps

In a Proceeds of Crime hearing at St Albans Crown Court today (January 26), prosecutor Adam Pearson said the benefit Putman had obtained from the fraud was £2,525,495 and the available amount for confiscation was £939,782.44.

His barrister Lawrence Selby said: "Mr Putman does not accept or agree the benefit figure or realisable assets, but will not be contesting these proceedings."

Judge Philip Grey said he will give a formal ruling later, but would impose a further six years in prison if the money was not paid within three months.

During his trial the jury heard Putman had conspired with Lottery insider Giles Knibbs, who worked in Camelot’s security department, to present a fake ticket.

The actual winning ticket, which was never claimed, was bought at a Co-op store in Worcester on March 11, 2009. It had the winning numbers 6, 9, 20, 21, and 34.

On August 28 that year, just before the 180-day claim deadline, Putman called Camelot to come forward as the winner. In a call to Camelot to claim the prize, he said he found the ticket under the seat of his van.

It was missing its bottom part, which contained unique numbers. He submitted the deliberately damaged forgery, which was accepted as authentic by Camelot even though it was missing a barcode.

Although he pocketed the winnings, Putman was sentenced in 2012 to nine months for a benefit fraud after claiming £13,000 in housing and income support.

Edward Putman. Credit: Hertfordshire Constabulary (Image: Hertfordshire Constabulary)

The fraud began to unravel in October 2015 when Mr Knibbs, 38, committed suicide at Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire. He had confessed to friends that he and Putman had "conned" the Lottery.

The two men had rowed about how the winnings were divided. In June 2015, Putman had gone to the police alleging Knibbs had threatened to reveal his previous convictions for the rape of a 17-year-old girl in 1991 and a benefits fraud in 2012. He also reported that Knibbs had stolen his mobile phone and damaged the wing mirror on his car.

Putman, who arrived at court with his face masked and wearing dark glasses, denied that between 28 August and 8 September 2009, together with Giles Knibbs, he dishonestly made a false representation, namely produced a fraudulent National Lottery ticket, intending to make a gain, namely £2,525,485 for himself. He was convicted by the jury of 7 women and 5 men.

Passing sentence at the time, Judge Grey said the "sophisticated, carefully planned, and diligently operated fraud" struck at the heart of the integrity of the National Lottery.

He said: "You would have got away with this but quite plainly you were greedy.

"Whatever the exact monetary split you and Mr Knibbs had agreed, you did not pay him what split he felt he was owed. The two of you fell out spectacularly.

"This crime struck at the integrity of the National Lottery. You have also undermined the public's trust in the Lottery itself."

In 2012 Putman was sentenced to nine months for benefit fraud after going on to claim £13,000 in housing and income support despite his jackpot win.

He was jailed in 1991 for seven years for raping a 17-year-old girl.

In December 2016 Camelot was fined £3 million by the Gambling Commission for breaching its controls relating to databases, the way it investigated a prize claim and its processes around the decision to pay a prize.