From Bankruptcy To Lottery Heaven
The ceiling tiles are waterlogged, the linoleum floor is cracked and the walls are peeling at the struggling Portuguese restaurant run by Jorge Lopes. It's not exactly the kind of place you'd expect a multimillionaire to be managing.
But after claiming nearly $59 milllion on Tuesday, Lopes told CBS News Correspondent Chris Lawrence that he'll probably continue working as usual.
"There's not too many words to say, but I'm still dumbfounded by it," said Lopes, who moved to the United States from Lisbon, Portugal, in 1977. "A miracle has happened."
Lopes bought one of the three winning tickets for the $331 million jackpot — the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. history. He took his $110.3 million in winnings in a lump sum of nearly $59 million, or about $43 million after taxes.
It could not have come at a better time for Lopes and his wife, Joanne. Before defying 76-million-to-1 odds in the multistate lottery, they had filed for bankruptcy, having run up nearly $600,000 in debts on 71 credit card accounts and unpaid taxes.
Lopes said he plans to keep working as a manager at Portuguese restaurants in Hillside and Union.
"I've been working just about every day," he said. "You gotta do something; you can't just sit around and go fishing."
His wife will leave her two jobs as a daycare teacher and flower deliverer, she said.
The couple filed for bankruptcy a year ago, claiming debts of $584,761 and assets of just $12,960, not including their $360,000 house in Manalapan. But the case was dismissed because Lopes did not show up for a hearing that would have finalized a repayment plan, said Debbie Smith, an assistant to the trustee overseeing the case.
"He's no longer protected by the bankruptcy court," she said. "His creditors can come after him for whatever he owes. They're probably knocking down his door pretty good right now."
According to bankruptcy court documents, the couple owed more than $202,000 to more than 100 creditors, including credit card companies, several hospitals and doctors' offices. They also owed the IRS more than $48,000 in back taxes dating to 1992.
Their bankruptcy attorney and the attorney they retained to represent them in the lottery matter did not immediately return phone calls Tuesday.
Patricia Gomes, a waitress at the Vilamoura Restaurant, said Lopes had been struggling financially in recent years.
"He was having a lot of problems with the place," she said. "He wasn't making much too much money. Now he's very happy."
Would she ask her suddenly wealthy boss for a raise?
"Hopefully I won't have to ask," Gomes replied.
Lopes bought the winning ticket at the Gulf Gas/1-2-3 Food Mart just a block away from the restaurant in the heart of this gritty blue-collar neighborhood near Newark. He let a computer choose the five numbers plus the gold Big Money Ball for the April 16 drawing.
Lopes, who said he waited to come forward because he was worried about the safety of his children, claimed his prize after nearly two weeks of controversy. It was touched off when a group of Newark nursing home workers mistakenly believed the winning ticket was one purchased by their office pool, and blamed a co-worker for trying to cheat them out of millions.
Despite Angelito Marquez's insistence the group had lost, co-workers became suspicious of his absence from work in the days after the drawing and hired a lawyer.
Lottery officials settled the matter by inviting four members of the pool to view store videotape of the person validating the ticket at the Hillside convenience store where it was purchased. The nursing home pool's tickets were bought at a liquor store in Union.
Ashish Ghetia, a clerk at what has undoubtedly become the most photographed Gulf station in New Jersey, said he will miss the hordes of reporters who staked out the Hillside store for nearly two weeks. Lottery officials had disclosed where the ticket was purchased.
"I'm happy it's all over, but I want to do it again," said Ghetia, whose store will get a $10,000 commission. "I want to sell another big winner to one of my customers. Or to myself."