The widow of Urooj Khan, the lottery winner who was poisoned with cyanide shortly after hitting the jackpot, allegedly tried to cash her late husband's lottery check, NBC Chicago reports.
The allegation was made by Khan's brother, ImTiaz Khan, in a court filing from September. The filing states:
The petitioner [ImTiaz Khan] is informed and believes that Ms. Shabana Ansari is in possession of the lottery check and is concerned that she may attempt to cash the check again, as she did shortly after the decedent’s death, even though the estate is entitled to the funds, not Ms. Ansari.
To further complicate things, ImTiaz Khan also stated in the records that Ansari may not have been Khan's wife at all. "There remain questions as to whether the decedent was married to Ms. Ansari," his filing states.
However, Ansari's affidavit of heirship states that she is Khan's current wife and that they have been married since June 2000.
NBC Chicago points out that the documents indicate Khan's brother is worried that Khan's 17-year-old daughter from a previous marriage may not get her share of her father's estate. Under Illinois state law, Khan's $1.2 million estate would be divided between his wife and his daughter, according to the Associated Press.
Sister Meraj Khan and her husband, Mohammed Zaman, won custody of Khan's 17-year-old daughter in a court battle over Khan's estate, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Khan's cause of death was originally said to be from heart disease, but after a relative placed a phone call to the medical examiner's office asking the doctor to take another look, the cause of death was ruled a homicide from cyanide poisoning, the Chicago Sun Times reports.
On Wednesday, Ansari's lawyer said Chicago police had questioned her for more than four hours in November and had also searched the house where she lived with Khan, the Associated Press reports. Her lawyer said he believed Ansari had "nothing to do" with her husband's death.
On July 20, 2012, only one day after receiving the cash from his winnings, Khan ate dinner at home and went to bed. He was later heard screaming and was taken to a hospital in nearby Evanston, where he was pronounced dead, according to a police document reviewed by the Chicago Tribune.
Police have named no suspects in the case and have not said whether the lottery win might be a motive for Khan's death. Khan's body may be exhumed as the investigation continues, CBS Chicago notes.
Khan owned three dry-cleaners in Chicago and a number of condominiums.
ImTiaz Khan could not be reached for comment. Neither Shabana Ansari, her probate attorney nor her criminal defense lawyer immediately returned phone calls placed by The Huffington Post.
For more information on Khan's death and the battle over his estate, visit NBC Chicago.
(h/t Daily Mail)
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