|
Community Forum · Est. 2006
|
#1
●
12-06-2013, 01:16 AM
|
|
Hamilton Woman to Receive $50 Million Lotto Jackpot Despite Having Lost Ticket
http://gma.yahoo.com/video/canadian-...154729632.html By Steve Mertl December 3, 2013 Daily Brew It was an investigation worthy of CSI, but, the target this time wasn't arrested. Instead, she's likely going to get $50 million. Kathryn Jones of Hamilton, Ontario, has been identified as the winner of a massive Lotto Max jackpot that went unclaimed for almost a year. In an unprecedented move, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG) undertook a complex, months-long piece of detective work to pinpoint Jones as the purchaser of the November 30, 2012, winning ticket, which she'd lost. The Toronto Star reported OLG officials said the corporation received 435 inquiries about the prize, but, not from Jones. OLG reviewed the claims while investigators launched their own hunt for the winner. "OLG has significant investigative tools and techniques to help determine if a prize claim is valid," the corporation said in its news release. The lottery gumshoes determined Jones had bought the winning ticket after pinpointing the exact time and location on its transactions database. She'd bought the ticket at a Shoppers Drug Mart in Cambridge, Ontario, where she works as an engineer. Investigators also used surveillance video from the outlet that showed Jones buying the ticket. "By using our extensive investigative resources, we conducted a comprehensive prize claim review and collected indisputable proof to determine Ms. Jones as the identified winner," OLG president Rod Phillips told a news conference Tuesday, CBC News reported. But when they contacted Jones, she admitted she had lost the ticket. “I have obviously, as you can imagine, I have looked in my house very thoroughly and it’s not there," she said at the news conference, the Star reported. That triggered OLG's Lost Ticket Price Claim Process to verify Jones as the winner. She produced purchase information that confirmed she'd bought the only $16 ticket at that time and location. But Jones' journey to the big prize hit another snag when she revealed her sister owns an Ottawa retail store that sells lottery tickets. Even though the winner wasn't bought there, that fact sparked yet another review by an independent third party to ensure there was no hanky panky. Jones still has to wait at least another 30 days while OLG publicizes her claim and waits to see if any other valid claims are made. If not, the mother of two will get a very big cheque. "I am still in shock and very grateful OLG approached me regarding the outstanding $50 million prize," Jones said, according to CBC News. "I completely respect OLG's rules and processes. I now anxiously anticipate the end of the wait period." The Star said OLG's largest previous unclaimed prize was $5 million. Under the corporation's policy, unclaimed prizes for Ontario-only games are handed over to the provincial government to fund health care, education and community programs. Inter-provincial games such as Lotto Max and Lotto 6/49 are fed back into the prize pool. OLG previously undertook a massive investigation to find the rightful winners of a $12.5-million Super 7 jackpot stolen in 2003 as part of a ticket-fraud scam by the retailers who'd sold it, the Star reported in 2011. Including interest, winners eventually got more than $14 million. Last July, Sneh Padarat, of Calgary, picked up a $1 million Western Max lottery prize after finding a ticket misplaced when she moved house. The Canadian Press reported she verified the numbers of the May 3 ticket at an automated ticket-checking machine and was surprised to learn she'd won a million bucks. |
|
#6
●
12-06-2013, 09:07 PM
| ||||||||
| ★ Legacy Member ★ Poster Rank:9 Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 98,731 Mentioned: 582 Post(s) Quoted: 23009 Post(s)
| ||||||||
|
Re: Hamilton Woman to Receive $50 Million Lotto Jackpot Despite Having Lost Ticket
Similar story happened here in NZ recently, nowhere near the same amount but they tracked the winner down. It's very professional of them to do this |