Friends sue NJ Lottery, saying they're owed $1 million for discarded ticket

Jun 25, 2014, 7:43 pm (53 comments)

New Jersey Lottery

TRENTON, NJ — Two friends who claim they bought a Powerball ticket worth $1 million at a Mahwah convenience store last year sued the New Jersey Lottery Commission yesterday, claiming they tossed out the ticket because the state was too slow to update its website with the winning numbers.

Salvatore Cambria and Erik Onyango claim in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Trenton that they picked five of six numbers drawn on March 23, 2013, the same day a Passaic deli owner scored the $338 million Powerball jackpot prize.

The Suffern, N.Y. friends say that even though they didn't pick the winning Powerball number the combination they chose entitled them to a $1 million consolation payout, the lawsuit says.

During a telephone conversation the night numbers were drawn, Onyango relayed the winning numbers to Cambria off the commission's website, the lawsuit claims.

"The operators of the website had not timely updated the current winning numbers," it adds.

Believing he'd lost, Cambria discarded the $1 million ticket, the lawsuit claims.

When the two men went to the commission earlier this year with their claim they were told they were out of luck, their attorney says.

"They were told that without the ticket they were not going to pay," said attorney Edward Logan.

Logan says the two men regularly bought lottery tickets for one another at the Mahwah 7-11.

On March 23, 2013, Onyango bought three tickets, keeping two for himself and turning over a third to Cambria.

The friends say they can prove the ticket that went to Cambria is the winning one because it was the middle ticket of three they purchased that day. Onyango kept the other two tickets, which include their serial numbers.

"The plaintiffs here may not have produced the winning ticket but have tendered two of the three tickets purchased in immediate succession and can prove that they in fact purchased and possessed the original ticket," Logan writes in the lawsuit.

Judith Drucker, a spokeswoman for the commission, declined to comment.

Also named as a defendant is the Multi-State Lottery Association and Gov. Chris Christie.

Pedro Quezada, a Dominican immigrant and the owner of the Apple Deli Grocery in Passaic won the March 2013 jackpot, the fourth largest in Powerball history.

Quezada took his lottery winnings in a lump sum of $221 million or $152 million after taxes.

"Imagine... so much money," Quezada said at a press conference held a few days after he'd won. "But it will not change my heart."

Star-Ledger

Comments

PERDUE

they're too frickin lazy to get the printed results and check their numbers, they carelessly toss a winning ticket and wants to cry foul....

these two should be posted on world's dumbest lottery players along with many others.

the state doesn't owe these two morons squat.

ok.....

maybe the state does owe them a swift kick in the butt.

BellasBMWLucki

LOL

i will be following this story though.Smile i remember this significantly huge jackpot

by Mr.Pedro Quesada think his name es.In any event,the plaintiff is suing,so i will await to see

obtuse or not on their end,i still want to see the adjudication on this lawsuit,pretty interesting.

 

adios!

Nikkicute's avatarNikkicute

Unfortunately no ticket, no money, this isn't Canada! lol kinda sucks!!Confused

Drenick1's avatarDrenick1

Bash

LottoMetro's avatarLottoMetro

Did they consult with Mr. Shaske before filing this lawsuit? Smile

noise-gate

No Lottery Commission is going to go ahead and honor this " missing ticket"- it would open up a flood gate of other silly complaints from lottery players.

If these guys tossed their ticket, how is that the Commissions fault? 

That's like rear ending someone and complaining that the reason you did is because the person in front of you...Stopped!

grwurston's avatargrwurston

I just clicked on the NJ lottery website winning numbers page. For each game it has the name of the game, then says "current winning numbers", with the day of the week, the date, and the number. Apparently they didn't bother to look at the day and date. If they still have the other two tickets, they should be able to prove they had it. However the fact that they don't, is pure stupidity on their part.

Another question is, even if the lottery agrees that it was their ticket, would the lottery cash it if it is past the redemption date?

noise-gate

Quote: Originally posted by grwurston on Jun 25, 2014

I just clicked on the NJ lottery website winning numbers page. For each game it has the name of the game, then says "current winning numbers", with the day of the week, the date, and the number. Apparently they didn't bother to look at the day and date. If they still have the other two tickets, they should be able to prove they had it. However the fact that they don't, is pure stupidity on their part.

Another question is, even if the lottery agrees that it was their ticket, would the lottery cash it if it is past the redemption date?

Having the TWO tickets does not translate into having the "3rd" winning one.

 

Remember that scene in one of the Indiana Jones movies where he throws a German officer out of the Zeppelin for having " No Ticket! " No proof, no cash.l cannot see any court siding with these guys.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by noise-gate on Jun 25, 2014

Having the TWO tickets does not translate into having the "3rd" winning one.

 

Remember that scene in one of the Indiana Jones movies where he throws a German officer out of the Zeppelin for having " No Ticket! " No proof, no cash.l cannot see any court siding with these guys.

It may turn out the third one was cashed and the two losers were discarded by the real winner.  It makes no sense to discard the winner and keep the losers.

noise-gate

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on Jun 25, 2014

It may turn out the third one was cashed and the two losers were discarded by the real winner.  It makes no sense to discard the winner and keep the losers.

A good Attorney would stay away from this case, unless these clowns promised him Half.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by noise-gate on Jun 25, 2014

A good Attorney would stay away from this case, unless these clowns promised him Half.

Not only would any attorney taking this case expect half of the winnings but also a non refundable large deposit just in case he lost.

Teddi's avatarTeddi

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on Jun 25, 2014

It may turn out the third one was cashed and the two losers were discarded by the real winner.  It makes no sense to discard the winner and keep the losers.

Brilliant point. They just happened to keep the two losing tickets for over a year, but the ticket with the winning numbers is the one they threw away. Sure, that makes sense. 

How stupid does a person have to be to not check the date of the numbers? How many times can people in this country bring lawsuits against others for their own stupidity. I pray to God that they are made to pay the fees for the defense once they lose.

noise-gate

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on Jun 25, 2014

It may turn out the third one was cashed and the two losers were discarded by the real winner.  It makes no sense to discard the winner and keep the losers.

How about this scenario RJOH : They Did purchase 3 tickets, they discard the winning one, someone picks that one out of the trash or wherever and cashes it.

Would these two have a case in telling the court that the ticket they threw away was found and cashed by this person?- the answer would be, " if you did not sign the back of the ticket, you lose!"

There is nothing in this story that tells us whether they signed the back of the ticket or not, in any event " they up a creek without a paddle"

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

The funny thing is I've almost done this at least once. You look at the website soon after the draw and because losing is so common, you quickly look at the results and see the ticket is a loser and toss it. But I'm never in a hurry to toss my tickets. I gotta recheck them a few days later

These NJ friends will not win the case especially because it's a game run by MUSL. Had it been a state game they might have had a small chance.

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