Mystery woman spotted with $3 billion winner

Edwin Castro, who won the biggest Powerball jackpot in history, has been spotted driving a luxury green Porsche with a mystery woman.

Lottery winner Edwin Castro enjoys a romantic sushi rendezvous with a mystery companion in West Hollywood's celeb hotspot Sushi Park. Picture: Backgrid

$3 billion (US$2 billion) Powerball winner Edwin Castro has found the perfect match — at least for his Porsche.

Mr Castro was caught on camera taking a mystery woman out for a ride in his emerald green Porsche during an outing on Saturday.

The winner of the $3 billion Powerball jackpot looked dapper in dark clothing and leather shoes as he walked alongside the unknown woman and he enjoyed a vape.

The stylish woman wore a black satin dress with strappy green stiletto heels for the occasion — that perfectly matched the green of his Porsche, The US Sun reports.

Lottery winner Edwin Castro enjoys a romantic sushi rendezvous with a mystery companion in West Hollywood's celeb hotspot Sushi Park. Picture: Backgrid

The two were spotted at Sushi Park in Los Angeles, a hot spot with meals averaging $600 a head and clientele that includes the likes of Beyoncé and Taylor Swift.

The woman’s green shoes were the pop piece of her classy but toned-down look and were hard to miss.

After their meal, they jumped in one of Mr Castro’s three Porsches that the former mechanic purchased after his jackpot win in 2022.

Mr Castro’s life changed overnight after he won $3.12 billion from the lottery — the largest in Powerball history.

After winning the Powerball's largest amount a year ago, Mr Castro has been living a lavish lifestyle in LA.s Picture: Backgrid

After claiming his prize, Mr Castro chose to take home a lump sum of $1.5 billion ($US997.6) million instead of opting for annual payments, according to the California Lottery.

After taxes, he walked away with $961 million ($US628.5 million).

But his big win was in doubt in May 2023 when he was served legal papers accusing him of stealing the winning ticket.

Jose Rivera, 43, claimed that he had bought the winning ticket and not Mr Castro.

Mr Rivera alleged that he bought the ticket the day before the November 8 drawing at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, but a man going by the name of “Reggie” Romero stole it the same day.

Mr Castro dined with a blonde mystery woman before driving off in a green vintage Porsche. Picture: Backgrid

Mr Castro is living his best life. Picture: Backgrid

Mr Romero allegedly told Mr Rivera that he had lost the ticket and that they could split the winnings if he ever found it, in defiance of Mr Rivera’s demand that Mr Romero return it.

Mr Rivera said he reported the purported theft to the lottery commission and law enforcement, refusing to be blackmailed.

An investigation into the claims ultimately found that Mr Castro was the winning ticket’s rightful owner and neither Mr Rivera nor Mr Romero had legitimate ties to it.

The lottery “has the utmost confidence in its... vetting process for big winners,” California Lottery representative Carolyn Becker said about the case.

Despite his historic win, Mr Castro has largely managed to stay out of the spotlight.

He did issue a written statement saying that he was happy that the California public school system would benefit from his win.

“As much as I am shocked and ecstatic to have won the Powerball drawing, the real winner is the California public school system. The mission of the California Lottery, which is to provide supplemental funding for California public education – both public schools and colleges – makes this a huge win for the state,” Mr Castro wrote.

“As someone who received the rewards of being educated in the California public education system, it’s gratifying to hear that, as a result of my win, the California school system greatly benefits as well.”

A source close to Mr Castro told the New York Post that the winner strongly believes God played a huge role in helping him.

“God gave him (the win) because He knew (Mr Castro) would be a good steward with it and use it to help others,” the source said.

Since taking his hundreds of millions of dollars in prizes, Mr Castro has splurged on several luxuries, including a $38 million ($US25 million) home in Los Angeles.

This story was published by The US Sun as was reproduced with permission