California Winner Sues to Claim Remaining Half of Mega Millions Jackpot

Two lottery tickets with identical numbers hit a jackpot of nearly $400 million from Mega Millions in December last year. Both tickets were purchased in California.

While the first half of the $394 million jackpot from December 8, 2023, was already claimed, the California Lottery announced last week that unless a claim is filed for the second half of the jackpot, the win will go to public schools across the state.

In an unexpected turn of events, the winner who collected the first half of the jackpot claimed that he also won the second half and consequently filed a lawsuit against the California Lottery.

Winner Claims He Purchased Two Identical Tickets, Files Lawsuit

The name of the incredibly fortunate player is Faramarz Lahijani. Previously, he had already claimed $197.5 million, which is half of the estimated $394 million jackpot from December 8, 2023. However, Lahijani now claims that he is due to receive the other half of the jackpot, alleging that he was the holder of the second winning ticket, a report by People reveals.

To win the grand prize, the lottery player used the same numbers he did for 30 years, namely 21, 26, 53, 66, 70 along with the Mega number 13. Lahijani’s lawsuit was filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday. Prior to summitting his legal claim, the man also filed a claim for the second jackpot, ahead of the deadline for such claim which was December 8, 2024.

The Lottery Player Is Unable to Locate the Second Ticket

The aforementioned numbers, according to Lahijani’s lawsuit, were selected by his children long time ago. Suing the California Lottery, the man claims that he is “entitled to the entirety of the jackpot.” Per the lawsuit, Lahijani is the sole holder of the two winning tickets which were allegedly purchased at the same location.

However, while he claimed the first part of the jackpot, Lahijani said that he hadn’t been able to locate the second ticket. Still, Lahijani’s lawsuit explained that the California Lottery is aware that the two tickets were the only ones that matched the jackpot numbers from the Mega Millions drawing on December 8, 2023. The man also claimed that the Lottery has “sufficient information to confirm” that he is the “sole and rightful winner of the $394 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot.”

It is yet to be seen how the lawsuit against the Lottery will proceed.

Usually, lotteries only award prizes and jackpots in exchange for a receipt or ticket that is valid, genuine and proves that there’s a win.