A convicted lottery fraudster reportedly could be set to gain £355,000 after his seized home sold for much more than expected.

Edward Putman, 57, was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2019 for scamming Camelot out of a £2.5 million jackpot with a forged ticket. His Kings Langley home was later taken from him to be sold under the Proceeds of Crime act when he chose to pay back less than £100,000.

The available amount for confiscation was set at £939,782, but the home has now sold for £1.2 million at auction, leading to The Mirror reporting on fears he would be left with the remaining £355,000 after the amount he has so far been ordered to pay back is covered.

Courts do have the power to raise the value of confiscation orders, however, and the Crown Prosecution Service has highlighted that "in any given case, if there is a surplus following the sale of assets, we will always review the confiscation order and, where appropriate, apply to increase the order, until the full criminal benefit has been repaid".

The house itself is run down and was damaged in a fire last year, but the land around it, which Putnam reportedly intended to turn into a hotel, proved to be of interest to developers leading to more than 400 bids.

The actual winning ticket, which was never claimed, was bought at a Co-op store in Worcester on March 11, 2009.

Watford Observer: Edward PutmanEdward Putman (Image: Hertfordshire Constabulary /PA Wire)

Putman hatched the plot with friend Giles Knibbs - who then worked in the securities department at the lottery operator - with the pair submitting a deliberately damaged forgery just before the 180-day limit to stake claims expired.

After his Lotto scam, Putman, jailed for nine years for raping a teenager in the 1990s, went on a spending spree.

But the fraud unravelled after Mr Knibbs confessed to friends he had "conned" the lottery, before taking his own life after an angry row about how the winnings were divided.