A questionable case has led Iowa lottery winner Crawford Shaw, a lawyer in New York, to withdraw his multi-million dollar claim since he could not explain how he obtained the winning ticket.

Shaw, 76, withdrew his claim on Thursday prompted by an investigation from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Iowa attorney general when he couldn't present proper information regarding the winning ticket, according to The Associated Press.

Authorities said Shaw made the claim for redemption on Dec. 29, two hours before it expired, through a Des Moines law firm and identified the recipient as a company in Belize.

The lottery prize amounted to a $7.5 million prize, or $10.3 million over 25 years after taxes, The AP reported.

Shaw did not claim the ticket prize in person but instead signed for Hexham Investments Trust based in New York, leaving off the H, and had it shipped to a Des Moines law firm. Shaw claimed that he did not know the identity of the person who purchased the winning ticket in Dec. 2010 at a gas station in Des Moines and simply stated it was a client in Belize.

In order that the claim be resolved without further controversy, Crawford Shaw, as Trustee for and on behalf of the Trust, does hereby withdraw the Claim and does hereby agree to take no further action to enforce the Claim, Shaw wrote in a fax message to the law firm.

According to The AP, records show that Shaw was a participant in a $100 million stock fraud scheme which led the collapse of a bankrupt chemical company, Industrial Enterprises of America and fraud suits in Delaware and Texas.

Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich told The AP Thursday that at one point, the ticket was thought to be stolen and the chain of events involving Shaw is one of the most unusual in the 26-year lottery history.

I'm telling you, if I could take all of the suggestions, it would be a heck of a fun book, Rich said, adding the prize money would be donated to future jackpots.

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