THE winner of a $197 million jackpot has sued the lottery in an ongoing battle over the prize money that has now reached the courts.
Farmarz Lahijani claims he purchased both winning tickets but lost one of them.
A lottery winner has sued over a $197m prizeCredit: Getty
The man claims he bought two winning tickets but lost one of themCredit: Getty
He is now suing the California Lottery to try and keep the entire $197 million prize.
Lahijani claimed he bought both tickets at the same gas station in Encino in December 2023.
He came forward in June to claim the winnings from one of the two tickets, but that is where the story took a bizarre twist.
Lahijani was awarded $197 million for presenting one of the two winning tickets.
But he is now claiming that he is the rightful owner of both winning tickets, according to a lawsuit filed last week in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
He claims that he bought both tickets but was unable to track one of them down before it expired earlier this month.
The winning numbers from the December 8, 2023 drawing were 21, 26, 53, 66, 70, and the Mega Ball was 13.
Lahijani claims he has used the same numbers for decades after his 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren picked them.
California Lottery officials at the time couldn’t say if the incredibly unlikely lottery result was a coincidence.
But they added that tickets with matching numbers could only purchased in separate transactions.
In California, the holder of a winning ticket has one year exactly to claim the jackpot.
The lawsuit was filed against the California Lottery on December 6, just hours before the expiry date.
Lahijani is suing for breach of contract over the remaining $197 million that made up the rest of the jackpot.
He alleges that there is enough evidence to prove he bought both winning tickets.
If the lawsuit is dismissed and the rightful winner of the second jackpot is found to be someone else, the deadline to claim the prize in person passed on Saturday, December 7.
The California Lottery is yet to make any official comment on the case.
“It would not be appropriate for the California Lottery to comment on an active lawsuit or any pending litigation to protect the integrity of the process involved,” Carolyn Becker, a spokesperson for the California Lottery, said in a statement, as seen by Nextstar affiliate KTLA5.
Retailers that sell a winning jackpot ticket worth over $1 million receive a bonus of half of one percent of the prize.
The maximum a store can receive is $1 million, with the Chevron location set to earn $987,500 from each winning ticket.
This total was the largest amount ever given to a single retailer in California Lottery history.
