On a crisp fall day last November, somebody walked into a Scottsdale Circle K and left nearly $13 million on the counter. The store — and a judge — are still trying to determine who it was.
The outcome could make someone rich.
In order to put a name to that someone, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Kreamer ordered last week that Bank of America had to turn over records related to a debit card used in the transaction.
The winning ticket was for The Pick and was printed at a Scottsdale Circle K, but was not purchased that day. According to the complaint, a customer asked to buy $85 worth of tickets but only paid for $60, leaving behind the remaining tickets that were printed.
The next morning, the store manager, Robert Gawlitza, clocked out of his shift and bought the ticket.
People are also reading…
Circle K filed a complaint asking a judge to determine whether that purchase made Gawlitza the rightful owner.
Under Arizona code, if a ticket has been printed but is not sold, the Arizona Lottery deems the ticket owned by the retailer that printed it.
After buying the ticket, Gawlitza signed the back of the ticket.
State lottery rules recognize the person who signs the ticket as the owner. Until it is signed, the ticket belongs to whoever physically holds the ticket.
A judge in Maricopa County is trying to determine who is the rightful owner of a winning The Pick ticket that was printed at a Scottsdale Circle K but was not purchased that day.
In new filings, Circle K says it found the debit card used in the original attempted purchase and tried to trace it back to the owner.
The company asked the court to force Bank of America to give them the records after they asked and didn't get them.
Kreamer agreed, ordering the bank to produce the records. But he made it clear the case is still far from a resolution.
“We are nowhere near that,” Kreamer said in court, noting that key pieces are still missing, including identifying the customer and formally having the store manager served with a summons and notice of the complaint, essentially letting him know that the case exists and he was named a defendant.
Gawlitza, who no longer works for Circle K, has not been served after two failed attempts. For the judge to rule on the ticket, he needs to confirm that Gawlitza is legally aware of what is happening.
“We have a third spot that we're going to try, and we have provided all of the filings in the case to him via email, which is one point of contact that we believe we have current information on," said Amanda Gray, attorney representing Circle K.
If they fail to serve him, the judge said that Circle K should seek an order for alternative service, which could mean sending service documents by mail or publishing the documents publicly.
The court also suspended the 180-day deadline to claim the prize, issuing a restraining order while the dispute plays out.
