Maryland McDonald’s worker Mirlande Wilson wins Mega Million winner: Reports

Update: 4/4/12

Many are now beginning to question whether Marlinde Wilson really has the winning Maryland Mega Millions ticket.

The 37-year-old single mother-of-seven has hired an attorney and is now claiming that she is unable to go to the state lottery office with the ticket because it is hidden somewhere in the McDonald’s restaurant where she works and she has not been to work since winning the $105 million payout.

She claims that the winning ticket in not in the safe with the other tickets that she bought for the workplace pool.

She says that she is waiting for things to cool down before going back to the fast-food restaurant to collect the ticket.

The 14-co-workers, who pooled their money to purchase the tickets, said Wilson is lying because after she purchased the second set of tickets on Friday she did not return to the restaurant.

Maryland lottery officials said since no one has come forward with the winning ticket they are not sure whether Wilson really holds the ticket or if she is making the story up.

Wilson and her lawyer are planning to hold a press conference today.

Original story

The New York Post has identified the Maryland Mega Million winner as Mirlande Wilson, a 37-year-old McDonald’s employee.

The newspaper says that although Wilson is jumping for joy her co-workers are crying foul.

Colleagues told the Post that they had pooled their money to buy a bunch of tickets and now Wilson doesn’t want to share her third of the $656 million.

Wilson, a Haitian immigrant with seven-children said “we had a group plan, but I went and played by myself.”  She said the winning ticket “wasn’t on the group plan”.

Siuleiman Osman Husein, a shift manager at the Maryland McDonald’s, who said he was one of 15 employees who pooled their money to buy the tickets, said “She [Wilson] can’t do this to us.  We each paid $5.  She took everybody’s money.”

There are reports that the tickets that were bought with the pool money were kept in a safe at the fast-food restaurant, but Wilson was given additional money to buy more tickets late Friday afternoon after her shift ended and those tickets she took home.

Reports say Wilson called her colleagues after the drawing jumping for joy saying she had won the lottery.  Meanwhile, as of press time she had not contacted lottery officials.