Jamaican lottery winner W. Brown dressed up as the iconic Star Wars villain to protect his identity while picking up his $95 million dollar winnings. He says the reason for this is because he hadn’t told people close to him that he had won the prize. Many people wear a mask to protect their identity while picking up their lottery winnings, this just happens to be one of the coolest ways to have done it.
“I want to decide what is the best thing to do before spending anything. I need to decide what my goals are, but I know I want to own a bus,” Brown told the Jamaica Gleaner.
He bought the winning ticket at Di Endz Sports Bar in May Pen, Jamaica. What’s even cooler is that he had been using the same number for the past 20 years. Each number was based on a “rake” which in Jamaica means a premonition or a dream. So he was one lucky man to have committed to those numbers for such a long time, and to have had them come to him like that.
“Life has always been very rough. I come from a poor family, sometimes I couldn’t attend school because my parents didn’t have it, but I told myself that God will help me one day so I can help my family,” he said.
Another reason for the costume is that because these events are broadcast they want to keep their identities hidden. They fear being targeted over their winnings and many wear disguises when they pick up winnings. Supreme Ventures Limited is the company that hosts the lottery. They know of the risks of having your face televised and have said that while they don’t encourage them to wear a costume, they also don’t discourage them to.
“Unfortunately, Jamaica is not like other markets. In other markets, they don’t necessarily do it, but here I think they opt to do it to keep themselves safe. We are not going to tell them not to do that because their safety is of paramount importance to us as well,” said Assistant Vice President Simone Clarke-Cooper, from Group Corporate Communications at Supreme Ventures Limited.