HE WAS TOLD HE WON US$340M, THEN THEY SAID IT WAS A MISTAKE
. . . now gambler John Cheeks is suing the lottery firm
WASHINGTON. — A man who thought he had won a US$340m Powerball jackpot is suing the lottery after the game’s administrators said their website only showed his numbers as the winning combination by mistake.
Washington DC resident John Cheeks purchased a Powerball lottery ticket at the centre of the dispute on 6 January 2023.
Although Cheeks did not see the Powerball drawing the following day, he saw his numbers posted on the DC lottery’s website two days later.
The digits on his ticket were a combination of family birthdays and other numbers of personal significance.
Speaking NBC Washington, Cheeks said, “I got a little excited, but I didn’t shout, I didn’t scream. I just politely called a friend. I took a picture as he recommended, and that was it. I went to sleep.”
But then things for Cheeks took a turn for the worse when he went to the office of lottery and gaming (OLG) to redeem his ticket.
Court documents allege that administrators denied Cheeks’ jackpot claim, saying in a letter to him:
“Petitioner’s prize claim was denied … because the ticket did not validate as a winner by the OLG’s gaming system as required by OLG regulations.”
Cheeks also said that he received an odd request from a claims staffer who allegedly told him, “Hey, this ticket is no good. Just throw it in the trash can.”
Cheeks recalled, “I gave him a stern look. I said, ‘In the trash can?’
‘Oh yeah, just throw it away. You’re not going to get paid. There’s a trash can right there.’”
Cheeks did not discard his ticket.
Instead, he put it in a safe deposit box, reached out to an attorney and sued Powerball.
Other defendants named in Cheeks’s lawsuit include the Multi-State Lottery Association and game contractor Taoti Enterprises. — Guardian.