Fishing tournament winners belatedly receive their millions

OCEAN CITY, Md. – The organizers of a multimillion dollar fishing tournament held more than two months ago say they will now pay the winners their prize money after an investigation that included lie-detector tests.

The Daily Times reports (http://delmarvane.ws/2iBOvC4 ) the Ocean City-based White Marlin Open, billed as the world’s largest billfish tournament, released a statement Tuesday confirming winners had been validated.

Tournament winners had required to undergo polygraph tests to safeguard against cheating. After the August tournament, directors said one prizewinner failed a polygraph test and that further investigation was continuing.

That came after the tournament declined to pay the 2016 winner after a failed polygraph test.

The top prizewinner in 2017 won $1.6 million after catching a 96-pound (43-kilogram) marlin. Tournament officials said winner Glen Frost didn’t fail his polygraph.