A man sued the Washington DC lottery for USD 961.8 million after he believed he had won due to a mistake.
A resident of Washington DC, John Cheeksued the organizers of Powerball, incl Multistate Lottery Assoc And Taoty EnterprisesIn charge of managing the raffle website, as the winner of an estimated prize of USD 340 million initially after their numbers were mistakenly published.
The incident, caused by the mistaken publication of the winning numbers, has sparked a legal battle in which Gall is seeking compensation of USD 320 million plus interest.
According to the plaintiff’s counsel, Rick EvansTo CBS NewsThe case “raises serious questions about the integrity and accountability and protection, or lack thereof, of lottery operations against the type of wrongdoing they have admitted to in this case. Powerball And DC Lottery“
The conflict began when Gall bought a lottery ticket on January 6, 2023, picking the numbers 7, 15, 23, 32 and 40. Powerball 2.
The next day, the same numbers were listed as winners on the company’s website. DC Lottery and Gaming Officeleading Gal to believe that he had won a grand prize.
The situation became complicated when, while trying to collect the supposed prize, he was informed that his ticket was invalid due to an error in the publication of the winning numbers on the website.
A lawsuit was filed Civil Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbiamaintains that for three days, from January 7 to 9, 2023, the website displayed two different sets of “winning numbers”, both the numbers on the cheek tickets and the actual winning numbers announced in the televised drawing.
A Taoti employee testified that on January 6, 2023, “a mistake” was made by mistakenly posting the same numbers from the plaintiff’s ticket on the website and the lottery office was notified that those numbers were “invalid.” However, Cheeks alleged that no public notice was ever issued in this regard.
The lawsuit alleges Powerball Yet this Multistate Lottery Assoc To perpetrate “fraud and falsehood” against man, when Taoty Enterprises She is accused of “robbery”.
Cheek is now seeking the winnings from each of the defendants, totaling $961.8 million in “compensatory relief.” Fox Business approached the defendants, who have filed a motion to dismiss the case. Taoti’s lawyer declined to comment further.
The incident has put the accountability and transparency of lottery operations in the spotlight, setting a precedent for how errors that can profoundly affect people’s lives are handled.
Cheeks, which remain Washington DC. 40 years, now seek to rule in their favor through the legal system, hoping for a resolution that will somehow compensate for the pain and confusion caused by this strange mistake.