A photo recently surfaced online of a lottery winner in Jamaica wearing a smiling emoji mask while collecting her check. The masked woman collected her check, reportedly worth $180,900,000, from Supreme Ventures this after winning the Super Lotto draw.
The disguise is due in part to the high crime rate in Jamaica. Simone Clarke-Cooper, assistant vice-president of Group Corporate Communications at Supreme Ventures Limited, states that since Super Lotto started, winners have been wearing disguises to protect themselves.
"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," she said.
She made it clear, however, that the company never directly suggest the winners wear disguises.
"People have been coming with their own disguises. They usually don't need our help, and they are usually very creative, perhaps beyond anything that we could think of or imagine, and it has been very effective over the years," Cooper noted.
Fitz Jackson, an Opposition spokesman on National Security, said that it's unfortunate that crime has forced winners of the jackpots to hide their identity from the public, but he understands the reservations people have.
"Not only to protect themselves from criminals, but people inundate them to share the benefit," said Jackson.
Source: jamaica-star.com
