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LOTTO 'DRY RUN'

Friend claims rapist Edward Putman tricked friends with another ‘fake’ lottery win months before his jackpot

Putman even went as fair as making friends toast his win and promised to buy them houses

A RAPIST who managed to trick his way to a lottery jackpot showed friends a faked £2.5m lotto win as part of a dry run, according to one of his friends.

Edward Putman, a convicted rapist, is suspected of fiddling his 2009 lottery win and using Giles Knibbs who worked for Camelot as an inside man.

 A friend has claimed rapist Edward Putman faked another £2.5m lotto win as part of a dry run but admitted it was a hoax
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A friend has claimed rapist Edward Putman faked another £2.5m lotto win as part of a dry run but admitted it was a hoaxCredit: INS News Agency
 Questions have been raised about Edward Putman's £2.5m Lotto win in 2009
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Questions have been raised about Edward Putman's £2.5m Lotto win in 2009Credit: INS News Agency
 It has been claimed Putman even went as fair as making friends toast his win and promised to buy them houses
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It has been claimed Putman even went as fair as making friends toast his win and promised to buy them housesCredit: INS News Group

His friend Stephen Warner has now told told the Sunday Mirror that Putman "waved" a fake winning ticket in front of neighbours five months before he scooped the jackpot.

Putman even went as fair as making friends toast his win and promised to buy them houses.

Stephen said the ticket looked real but revealed Putman later admitted it was a hoax.

He said: "He didn't really give an explanation, but we suspected he had got it [the fake ticket] from Giles.

"We weren't impressed though. It wasn't funny, why would you do that to friends? I'd wished I'd asked more questions."

 

Putman has kept a low profile since the Gambling Commission revealed it was “more likely than not” his winning 2009 ticket was fraudulent and fined Camelot, which runs the lottery, £3million.

A report by the Commission, seen by the Daily Mirror, appears to have 195 pages which are blacked out either in part or entirely with another 79 pages removed entirely.

Questions left unanswered include whether Camelot knew of the ­friendship between Knibbs and 51-year-old Putman and what was the rapist’s side of the story.

Deputy Labour leader, Tom Watson MP, criticised the commission for not releasing the full report.

He said: "It seems the Great Lotto Robbery is in danger of turning into the Great Lotto Cover-up.

“Whilst the Gambling Commission have taken action against Camelot for its failure, the public will rightly want to see further action taken by authorities in order to recoup the money fraudulently taken."

The Gambling Commission said it believes the "public interest does favour the disclosure of certain parts of the information".

It added: "There is, however, still material which remains exempt… where the public interest balance favours maintaining the exemption and withholding information."

Suspicions over Putman's win were first raised in October last year after the death of Knibbs who worked for lottery operator Camelot’s fraud department.

Asked if Giles’ suicide was related to the alleged scam, a friend said: “Yes, it was.”

He added: “What Camelot have said was incorrect, it wasn’t a damaged ticket.

“I would expect he (Giles) was aiming to get financial benefit. I think he received some.

“They fell out which is why it all came to a head.”

Putnam, of Kings Langley, Herts, was jailed in 1993 for twice raping a 17-year-old.

The former bricklayer is thought to have met Mr Knibbs, from nearby St Albans, while doing building work for him.

He was arrested and quizzed 17 days after Mr Knibbs died.

Cops said there was insufficient evidence and the case was dropped in February.


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