The National Lottery conman who forged a jackpot-winning ticket to swindle £2.5million could soon have his home taken away.
Edward Putman, 57, was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2019 and forced to pay back £940,000 of the jackpot under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
However, he actually paid back less than £100,000 from his ill-gotten gains, according to The Mirror.
READ MORE: Lotto winner blew £17m jackpot on yacht, nightclub and pub – and blamed it on bad advice
Prosecutors have consequently been granted an enforcement receiver order, giving them the power to “take possession of assets, sell them and pay money to the courts”.
Forensic accountants will now look to flog his possessions and settle his debts, meaning his £700,000 bolthole – damaged in a recent arson attack – is at risk.
They could also look at any hidden assets, with reports previously saying he splashed the cash on a fleet of luxury cars as well as properties in Florida and Malta.
A source told The Mirror: “Putman had the chance to settle up but he’s too greedy – now it’s out of his hands.
“The authorities are desperate to get the cash back, they won’t stand by and let him squirrel away the cash.
“Putman played the coward and tried to fight the application but prosecutors won.”
Putman, also jailed for seven years in 1993 for raping a pregnant 17-year-old, bribed Lotto insider Giles Knibbs, 38, to forge a ticket.
He was found out when Knibbs – upset at not getting his “fair share” of the scam – left an incriminating suicide note in 2015.
Cops are continuing to probe a suspected arson attack at Putman’s home in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, in October last year.
A spokeswoman for Hertfordshire Constabulary confirmed they were yet to make any arrests and had “exhausted all current lines of enquiry”.
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