$6M lotto winner seeks $825,000 in damage from Ontario regulator
Chatham’s $6-million lottery winner, locked in a legal fight with his ex-girlfriend over the cash, is now waging another court battle against the provincial agency that investigates prize disputes and regulates the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG). Maurice Thibeault is seeking $825,000 in damages from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) after half of the $6.1-million Lotto 6/49 jackpot he won last fall was withheld by the OLG after Thibeault’s jilted live-in girlfriend laid claim to half of it. In the third-party claim, filed in Windsor court, Thibeault is seeking $250,000 in damages from the AGCO for “negligent investigation, tortious interference in contractual relations, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of statutory duty.” He’s also asking for another $500,000 for punitive damages, $75,000 for special damages, the costs of his legal action against his ex-girlfriend and the legal fees for the action against the AGCO. “Maurice is suing … for, in effect, negligent investigation,” said Thibeault’s lawyer, Richard Pollock. “(He’s saying to the AGCO) had you done the investigation as the statute and regulations provide, I would have never been in this mess.”
In the claim, which contains statements not yet proven in court, Thibeault alleges the AGCO failed to conduct a thorough investigation and did not collect or analyze potential evidence.
The dispute arose when Thibeault’s ex-girlfriend, Denise Robertson, claimed they frequently bought lottery tickets as a couple and agreed to share any winnings long before he purchased the Lotto 6/49 ticket that won $6.1 million on Sept. 20, 2017. Thibeault denies there was ever such an arrangement.
In January, Thibeault was awarded half of the $6.1 million in winnings by the OLG after they investigated. The remainder is being withheld pending the results of the legal dispute between the one-time couple.
In the initial legal challenge filed by Robertson in February, which includes allegations that have not yet been tested in court, she said she returned from work one day to find Thibeault had moved all his possessions out of the Chatham home they shared. Days before, Thibeault told her their lottery ticket had lost, she alleges. Thibeault’s claim against the AGCO is the latest development in the multimillion-dollar lottery dispute.
In February, the OLG brought a so-called interpleader motion forward, asking the court to take the remaining half of the lottery winnings and hold the sum for safekeeping.