Powerball winner who demands anonymity to get money

Associated Press

NASHUA, N.H.

A New Hampshire woman who won a $559.7 million Powerball jackpot should be able to collect the winnings soon while a judge decides whether to let her remain anonymous.

A judge in Nashua heard arguments Tuesday from lawyers for the woman who say her privacy interests outweigh what the state says is the public’s right to know who won the money in the nation’s eighth-largest lottery jackpot.

The woman, identified as Jane Doe, signed the ticket after the Jan. 6 drawing, but later learned from a lawyer that she could have shielded her identity by writing the name of a trust. They said she was “very upset” after learning she was giving up her anonymity by signing the ticket – something the lottery commission acknowledged isn’t spelled out on the ticket but is detailed on its website.

Outside the court, both sides seemed to agree the money could be transferred in the coming days into a trust the woman has set up.