TORONTO — Some of the claimants to the disputed $50-million Lotto Max jackpot were at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming prize centre Wednesday being questioned about the win.
The original claimants — 19 Bell Canada call centre workers from east Toronto — validated the winning ticket on Monday, said OLG spokeswoman Sarah Kiriliuk.
But since then several more people have come forward to say they should have a share of the prize, said Kiriliuk, although she refused to say exactly how many.
“Today the claimants of the $50-million prize have started the second step of the process,” Kiriliuk said.
“With anyone over $10,000 we have a prize claims process that includes an interview with somebody just to ensure we’re giving the right prize to the right person.”
The OLG investigators who are asking the questions include former police officers, she added.
The claimants are being asked how long their group has been playing together, where the ticket was bought, and who was the group leader, among other questions.
Kiriliuk says the claimants are in good spirits despite the dispute.
After jubilantly speaking to the media about their win Monday, several prize claimants brushed past reporters at the downtown prize centre Wednesday while refusing comment, some even hiding their faces from cameras.
Kiriliuk said it’s not clear how long it will take to determine who are the rightful winners of the jackpot, which was the largest single ticket win in Ontario history.
A dispute over a group win in 2008 saw a man file suit against his former co-workers before the case was settled late last year.
More than two dozen employees of Powco Steel in Barrie, Ont., claimed a $24.5-million lottery prize, but others came forward saying they deserved a share as well.
Slawomir Kowalewski claimed he was part of a weekly group ticket purchase but was excluded while he was on vacation in Poland.
Provincial police probed the incident and found the name of two winners on the list given to OLG were covered with whiteout.
The money was frozen by the courts until the case was settled, with Kowalewski and three others receiving an undisclosed amount.
To avoid these types of disputes, Kiriliuk advises anyone playing in a group should use a group play form available on the OLG website, recording names, signatures and the number of group members.
It’s important to fill out the form each week, so players have a weekly record of what has happened in their group play, she said.
The gaming agency also recommends players speak to the group leader of their lottery pool each week to confirm the leader received money from each player and purchased tickets, and then ask for a photocopy of the ticket.