National Lottery conman who cashed in fake £2.5million winning ticket is blamed for driving his accomplice to suicide
- Edward Putman conspired with Camelot insider Giles Knibbs in the 2009 scam
- Knibbs confessed that he had ‘conned’ the Lottery before taking his own life
- Mr Knibbs’s lover Olivier Orphelin said Putman is responsible for his death
- For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details
A conman who was jailed for nine years for claiming a £2.5million jackpot using a fake ticket has been blamed for his accomplice’s suicide.
Edward Putman conspired with Giles Knibbs, a Camelot insider, to cheat the system and present a counterfeit slip to claim the outstanding top prize in 2009.
But the fraud unravelled after Mr Knibbs confessed to friends that he had ‘conned’ the Lottery before taking his own life after an angry row about how the winnings were divided.
Edward Putman (left) conspired with Giles Knibbs (right), a Camelot insider, to cheat the system and present a counterfeit slip to claim the outstanding top prize in 2009. Mr Knibbs’s lover Olivier Orphelin said Putman is responsible for his death and claims he would still be alive if Putman had shared the money equally
Now, Mr Knibbs’s lover Olivier Orphelin said Putman is responsible for his death and claims he would still be alive if Putman had shared the money equally.
Mr Knibbs was only given £280,000 of the £2.5million winnings, it is claimed.
Mr Orphelin told The Mirror: ‘He’d be alive but for Eddie’s greed.’
He added: ‘If I could speak to him now I would ask him, ‘Why the f*** didn’t you tell me? I would have helped you.’
The genuine winning ticket, which was bought in Worcester, has never been discovered.
Putman was paid the jackpot by Camelot despite the bottom part of the mangled slip missing the barcode.
The scam began to fall apart after the friendship between former business partners Mr Knibbs and Putman deteriorated.
Putman was paid the jackpot by Camelot despite the bottom part of the mangled slip missing the barcode
Mr Knibbs sought vengeance on his former friend because he had not given him his agreed share of the winnings from the draw on March 11, 2009.
Before he died Mr Knibbs told friends of his conspiracy with Putman, a builder who had worked on an extension at his home in Bricket Wood, Hertfordshire.
In June 2015 Putman had gone to the police alleging Mr Knibbs had threatened to reveal his previous convictions for the rape of a 17 year old girl in 1991 and a benefits fraud in 2012.
He also reported that Mr Knibbs had stolen his mobile phone and damaged the wing mirror on his car.
As a result Knibbs was arrested. He told a former partner John Coleyshaw: ‘It looks like I am going down for 10 to 15 years for blackmail.’
Mr Coleyshaw described Mr Knibbs as ‘in a bad way because he was worried by the thought of going to prison.’
He added: ‘For want of a better word he had been shafted by someone he considered to be a good friend.