A man who claims he bought a $63 million winning ticket in the California lottery is suing, saying he was told the ticket was “too damaged” and disallowed for the jackpot.
Brandy Milliner of Los Angeles County says he purchased a Super LottoPlus ticket at a 7-Eleven in Chatsworth, California, on August 8, 2015, which matched the six winning numbers.
Milliner says he brought the ticket to lottery officials and was given a congratulatory note along with a photocopy of his ticket.
However, in January Milliner says he received a follow-up note saying his ticket was “too damaged to be reconstructed.”
Milliner showed CNN affiliate KTLA what he said was the winning ticket. It has an annuity value of $63 million or a lump-sum value of $39.9 million, the largest unclaimed prize in California lottery history.
Lottery officials told KTLA they never received Milliner’s claim.
A 7-Eleven employee, Arsel Nazir, described the ticket as “torn, washed, a little burned. You can’t see the numbers. You can’t even read the bar code.”
A lot’s at stake, for both Milliner and the state.
Somebody bought that winning ticket on August 8, KTLA and The Los Angeles Times said. But nobody has shown up to claim the prize, despite lottery officials’ public call in November.
The ticket holder had to have shown up at a state lottery office by 5 p.m. Thursday.
If the money hasn’t been claimed, the jackpot will go to California public schools, KTLA says.
One person made out regardless: the owner of the 7-Eleven, who stands to earn $315,000 for selling the ticket.
The winning numbers? 46-1-33-30-16, with a Mega number of 24.