Lawsuit against Powerball winners dropped

PORTLAND – A lawsuit filed by four co-workers who contended they should have a share of a Buxton couple’s $41.5 million Powerball jackpot was dropped Thursday nearly as quickly as it was filed.

The plaintiffs reversed course Thursday with attorneys announcing that they planned to drop the lawsuit filed against Pat and Erwin Wales the previous day in Cumberland County Superior Court.

The Waleses claimed the prize Monday and were sued Wednesday by co-workers who said they didn’t believe the ticket belonged to the couple alone.

The plaintiffs’ lawyer, John McVeigh, said the suit had to be filed quickly to protect the interests of his clients.

“Once we saw the evidence and could take a close look at the sequence of events, they were satisfied with the results,” McVeigh said. “They wish nothing but the best for Mrs. Wales and her husband.”

The plaintiffs worked with Pat Wales at Lincoln Financial Group in Portland and were among 19 members of an office pool who contributed $10 apiece to buy 190 Powerball tickets and share any winnings.

Pat Wales, 60, and her husband Erwin, 70, contend they put the 190 Powerball tickets for the office pool in an envelope separate from tickets they bought for themselves, for relatives, friends and neighbors.

Terrence Garmey, lawyer for the Waleses, said the couple bears no ill will toward the co-workers who sued. “We’d like to tell them there are no hard feelings,” Garmey told reporters.

“The last 48 hours have been incredibly painful, especially for the Waleses, but also for the four people who filed the suit,” Garmey said.

He said the Waleses planned to meet with the plaintiffs. Asked whether the Waleses planned to give money to those in the office pool, Garmey hinted that there had been discussions that ended when the lawsuit was filed.

“I will also tell you this: If it happens, the string attached is going to be that none of you are ever going to hear about it,” he said. “I think Pat and Erwin are very generous people and want to say nothing more about it.”

Four winning tickets were sold for Saturday’s $294.8 million jackpot. Each winning ticket is worth $73.7 million. The Waleses elected to take a lump-sum payment, so their payment is smaller. They are expected to collect about $24 million after taxes.

Maine is not one of the 21 states that participate in Powerball along with Washington, D.C. The Waleses bought their tickets in Rollinsford, N.H.

The lawsuit brought by Edward Joseph Ng of Portland, Michael Dawalga Jr. of Sanford, Nicole M. Joy of Gray and Jessica L. Aspiras of South Portland alleged breach of contract, unjust enrichment and breach of fiduciary duty.

The lawsuit said “there is a clear danger that defendants will move the winnings out of state or otherwise make funds unavailable” and asked a judge to freeze at least $8.6 million of the winnings.

“Financial planners had been hired, an entire sophisticated team to advise these lucky people had been hired. And it was within the realm of human possibility someone would want to make that money insulated from attack,” McVeigh said.

In court papers, Ng said all the participants were under the impression they would share in the winnings of the tickets Pat Wales bought.

At a news conference Wednesday, Garmey displayed copies of tickets the Waleses bought Friday for the office pool, relatives, friends, neighbors and themselves.

The copies show that 190 numbers were purchased at 7:47 p.m., 33 more a minute later, and 20 picks, including the winner, at 7:49 p.m., Garmey said.

A judge on Wednesday refused to put a hold on the couple’s winnings, saying the lawsuit seeking a share of the jackpot wouldn’t hold up in court.