$50M Ontario lottery winners face scrutiny

Jan 6, 2012, 8:00 am (11 comments)

Canada Lotto Max

OTTAWA — An Ontario, Canada, couple who won a $50 million Lotto Max jackpot last week said they expected to have trouble collecting their winnings.

Jo Ann and Gaetan Champagne have received a barrage of questions from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission: Did you buy the Lotto Max ticket? How did you come up with the numbers? Where did you get the ticket from?

The Champagnes said they aren't fazed. "We know the rules," said Jo Ann.

"I remember leaving the convenience store and we both looked at each other and said, 'Oh no. They're going to be checking us now.'"

The Champagnes are what the OLG calls "insider winners" — a category that includes OLG employees, employee family members and Lotto retailers.

The couple owned and operated Jo's Depanneur, a Hawkesbury, Ont., convenience store that was licensed to sell Lotto tickets. They sold the business Oct. 31. Jo Ann continued to work there, but quit the day they won the cash prize — on New Year's Eve.

OLG spokesman Tony Bitonti says the investigation is "standard procedure."

Any prize above $1,000 is automatically investigated. Because the Champagnes are insider winners, there's an extra level of scrutiny.

"We want to make sure that we pay the right prize to the right person every time," Bitonti said.

The win meant two investigations: one by the OLG — which wrapped up Wednesday —and another by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. Bitonti expects the second investigation to take a few days to a few weeks.

"More than likely, we'll receive a notice saying everything is good," Bitonti said. "They followed OLG rules."

It's not over after that, though. Following the questioning is a mandatory 30-day wait period. Under OLG policy, this gives people a chance to call in if there are any concerns. After the 30 days, if there are no concerns, the OLG will give the Champagnes their prize money.

If the Champagnes had bought and validated the ticket at their own convenience store, they would have been ineligible for the cash prize. Jo Ann said this is why she's bought Lotto tickets from other corner stores for more than a decade.

The couple said they are untroubled by the delay. "I don't see why we shouldn't get it, we didn't do anything wrong," said Jo Ann. "We're sure we're going to get it."

The Champagnes had bought the ticket at a small convenience store in Hawkesbury. They plan on using the money to help their two sons, aged 27 and 30. They also want to purchase a new home and donate some of their winnings to the hospital and the local food shelter, which was robbed on Christmas Eve.

"We have too many plans," Jo Ann Champagne said. "Soon we'll be broke."

Postmedia News

Comments

Cletu$2's avatarCletu$2

If they sold their business BEFORE they won the lottery,why are they still considered "insider winners"?

Congratulations to the lucky couple!

Pay them their prize money.

LottoGuyBC's avatarLottoGuyBC

Quote: Originally posted by Cletu$2 on Jan 6, 2012

If they sold their business BEFORE they won the lottery,why are they still considered "insider winners"?

Congratulations to the lucky couple!

Pay them their prize money.

I think it's because she still works parttime at the store she used to own

LottoGuyBC's avatarLottoGuyBC

I think they will get their money in a month or two

but they'll get their money.

Congrats to the winners! Smash

TheRightPrice

just pay the people. they have the ticket, don't they??????

s5thomps's avatars5thomps

Quote: Originally posted by TheRightPrice on Jan 6, 2012

just pay the people. they have the ticket, don't they??????

They should be good to go. She knew the rules and brought the winning ticket from a differrent store around the corner. It's just a matter of time before they receive their money. Congrats to the winners! Even if she did buy the ticket from the store where she worked they sold the business back in October so she is just an employee and not the owner.

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

other store owners take a lesson.

buy your tix at another store.

good thinking.

now olg cough it up!

Boney526's avatarBoney526

Quote: Originally posted by haymaker on Jan 6, 2012

other store owners take a lesson.

buy your tix at another store.

good thinking.

now olg cough it up!

Not every jursidiction would have those rules.  I believe in NJ they are allowed to by online tickets where they work - even while they're working.  They have to (or rather, are supposed to) wait until they're shift has ended to buy any scratch offs at the store where they work.  At least that's what a couple of clerks who seemed to know the rules told me.

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

Quote: Originally posted by Boney526 on Jan 6, 2012

Not every jursidiction would have those rules.  I believe in NJ they are allowed to by online tickets where they work - even while they're working.  They have to (or rather, are supposed to) wait until they're shift has ended to buy any scratch offs at the store where they work.  At least that's what a couple of clerks who seemed to know the rules told me.

not saying its a rule.

or even  should be.

just a good idea.

savagegoose's avatarsavagegoose

maybe there where other tickets bout in the same transaction., at the same store, maybe they need to state what scratchers they also bought with thew lotto ticvket., what other lotto toickets they also bought.

if they get all that right, then yeah i spose they get the money, if they cant name the store or what other purchases whenre named., then too bad its jail time.

Iesha Kelly

Quote: Originally posted by TheRightPrice on Jan 6, 2012

just pay the people. they have the ticket, don't they??????

Tickets may be bearer instruments, but investigations are good.  It helps find fraud, like all those cases where someone had the ticket who should not, because they were store employees scamming the true winners (usually the elderly) out of their winners by claiming that the tickets were duds, or giving out 'free tickets' for tickets worth a substantial lot of money (like that case in Canada a few years back).

 

There's no rush to getting the money.

sully16's avatarsully16

I wonder if it was a qp ?

End of comments
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