TORONTO — A Canadian couple endured a roller-coaster ride of emotions when a lottery ticket worth $50 million went missing only to be found and returned by someone at their church.
Hakeem Nosiru won the Jan. 17 Lotto Max draw and was one day away from claiming the money when the signed ticket, which he taped to the inside his wife's purse for safekeeping, was missing after they attended church.
That sparked a frantic search of their home, with garbage bins being upended and their contents picked through, an effort that left Nosiru and his wife — who are originally from Nigeria — empty handed and feeling "miserable.
But that despair turned to joy after a fellow member of the congregation discovered the ticket and reunited it with them on April 1 — a return made possible because Nosiru signed the ticket with their address.
But the saga wasn't over yet, as Nosiru gave the ticket to Ontario Provincial Police, who were investigating the matter for Ontario Lottery and Gaming to ensure there were no further snags.
Everything checked out and Nosiru and his wife Abiola were beaming for the cameras at the OLG prize center Monday, telling reporters they were planning on travelling the world and helping out their family.
Abiola Nosiru said that when she realized her husband's winning ticket had disappeared from her purse "I had a fly in my stomach and I couldn't sleep for days. I couldn't eat. I was devastated."
"We just wanted to see the reality. And the reality is right here now," she said, fighting back tears.
She wasn't sure what they'll do for the woman who ended the ticket's exodus, but told her "I just want to say thank you."
congrats! No tax for Canadian lotteries is great! I wish the US lotteries didn't have tax too.
That lady deserves far more then a simple thank you that's for sure. I would give the lady $250,000 to $500,000. I wouldn't even miss it out of $50 million
If it were me that had lost that ticket I would be so appreciative and would reward the lady who found the ticket . She was a fellow church goer so that is the least I would do.
$50 million in Canada is like winning a $150 million jackpot here in the states.
There are a few things you never ever do..
(1) Taking a lottery ticket to Church, your mind is not on the Sermon and you know it.
(2) Never tape a winning ticket to the inside of a purse, any purse.
Nevertheless- Congratulations and Welcome to the Millionaire's club Mr & Mrs Nosiru!
Where was that ticket the whole time? Was it on someone's conscience - what was the hold up from Jan to Apr?
Agree. I don't know how they could sit through a sermon knowing they've got a winning lottery ticket on their hands. If it were me, I'd be checking my purse every 4.5 seconds to make sure it was still there, so there's no way I'd be hearing any sermon or anything. Wonder how it fell out? She must have pulled something out and the ticket came out with it.
A simple thank you to the woman who found their ticket? Hmmm, hope they change that to a nice fat check later. I'd give her no less than $1million.
Congrats!
I wonder too. There's a gap in this story.
I also think a "thank you" around $500,000 to $1 million sounds appropriate. Without her returning the ticket, this couple would have ZERO dollars for their win.
OH BULL...............
As a regular lotto player, besides the hope of winning the big draw one day, there's nothing i love more than a good lotto story. But this is NOT one of them. I HATE stories like this just as much as i hate the stories about unchecked tickets that are winners and end up being unclaimed. So this family KNOWS they have a winning $50 MILLION (tax free) ticket and what do they do...THEY PASTE IT INSIDE A PURSE AND TAKE IT TO CHURCH AND THEN WHEN THEY GET HOME REALIZE ITS GONE?????????? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????
I'm supposed to be happy for them and in other circumstances I generally am, no really, i love a good rag to riches story but i really cant stand these DUMB stories anymore. Its almost like the universe has this crazy plan about who it'll let win these jackpots just to infuriate the rest of us.
That being said.....good luck to them and all the best to them and their new found wealth. AND STOP BEING SO SILLY YOU TWO!!!!!!!
(and they better give the person that returned the ticket AT LEAST $1 MILLION out of it)
Congratulation to the winners. WTG to the woman that turned the ticket in she definitely deserves a reward like others said
The person who returned the ticket did so for ONE reason....because he/she spent the entire time between Jan and April trying to figure out if there was a way for them to collect the money for themselves. After realizing that because it was signed there was really no way to collect it, decided to simply turn it in to the rightful owners and hoped/bargained for a reward.
Still deserving of something though I'd say. Had i been the winner, I'd say a cool $1 Million should do the trick.
I agree with you Mr. Craft. There is a gap in this story.
How did the ticket get taken from her purse? Was it stolen? Did they tell someone at the church that they had the winning ticket in her purse? Where was it found? Who took it? Why did it take so long for this woman to return the ticket to the couple who signed it?
Why did they take it to church instead of a safety deposit box?
This story is frustrating. Three things are for sure:
1. God is great.
2. Beer is good.
3. And people are CRAZY!
I agree with you DDOH. Someone stole it from them at the church (they must have told someone) and woman realized she couldn't cash a signed ticket.
I agree that this story has many gaps in it. It doesn't mention when the ticket was actually lost and only gives a recovery date of April 1st. For all we know, the couple may have been taking their time contemplating what to actually do with their new found wealth. $50 million net is a mind boggling experience most of us could only hope for.
If perhaps the ticket was lost in February then there are issues but until we know the exact time frame we are all just speculating.
Their story is on the CBC (Canada's national network) and it mentions the couple searched for their ticket for 4 months before it was returned. I think DDOH's theory has a lot of merit then - somebody hung onto the ticket trying to figure out a way to cash it themselves. Or something else just as dodgy.
Just speculating, but the article mentions, "...was one day away from claiming the money..." Jan 17th was a Friday, and I assume they attended church that Sunday and was planning to visit the lottery office on Monday. I think it was lost early on.
There's more from the Toronto Sun. He apparently ran through the aisles of the convenience store yelling with joy after he found out he won, so people knew that he had won the jackpot. BUT, before the ticket making its way to his wife's purse, he put the ticket in an envelope and duct-taped it to his stomach for safe-keeping!
Never tape a winning ticket to the inside of a purse, any purse.
Yea that was stupid. I would of stapled it to my chest.
"...He apparently ran through the aisles of the convenience store yelling with joy after he found out he won, so people knew that he had won the jackpot..."
Brilliant move.
Most of us are trying to figure out how to stay under the radar if we won, and this fool goes around yelling the news to the general public before he even has the money in his hands.
What seemed like a heart-warming good news story at first now frustrates me as I hear more about it. I wonder how much they'll have left in 5 years. If it takes that long.
Not a very smart move, especially for somebody from his country{always fly under the radar}. Next thing you know, some of his relatives will be held for ransom. This is just the beginning of the story. Let me say it again..NO PUBLICITY!!!.
ABSOLUTELY!!!. You hit the nail right on the head. Good thing they still had one. The ticket could have been made to vanish into thin air. The best thing they did{having done everything else wrong}, was that THEY SIGNED THE BACK OF THE TICKET.
Where did it say that the woman had the ticket?
The only thing that ticket would have been taped to is me. The ticket would go into a sealed plastic sleeve, and then I would duct tape it around my midsection until I got to lotto headquarters. It would be the most joyous removal of tape in the history of hair-removing duct tape.
I hope this couple realise that the ONLY reason they "found" this ticket was because it was signed. WTG by sigining the ticket, but then they drop the ball by taking it to church
. WHAT THE HELL!!!
LOL, RedStang, staples probably more secure.
Mr Nosiru looks a lot like the guy from the East coast who won and whose intentions are to quit his job, buy his wife a house & a Bentley for himself with less than $7 million. Maybe its the shape of their heads..
Just saying...
Rags to riches, from Nigeria no less. Congrats to you and yours mate.
I would not give a dime to the woman until she could explain why she held onto the ticket for so long. So someone keeps it for a while then realizes they'd better turn it in (since it was signed) in hopes of getting some $. I might instead make a large donation to a charity of her choice. Rewarding wrong doing is not right...and they would have been in litigation with her if he had not signed it.
I absolutely agree! The husband was running down the aisle in the store yelling that he had won, so i'm sure he would've had no problem telling folks at his church also. The person who "found" the ticket probably called every attorney in Canada to see if there was a way to cash this ticket, but in the end gave up and decided to hope for a reward.
It's never news when someone ordinary wins the lottery and validates their ticket within a week. Nope the story must be dramatic, a Nigerian couple lose their ticket in church and it was returned three months later.