LOS ANGELES, Calif. (WKRC) - A Mega Millions jackpot winner filed a lawsuit after he says he bought two winning jackpot tickets but lost the second.
According to The New York Post, Mega Millions jackpot winner Faramarz Lahijani claims he purchased two jackpot-winning tickets that were sold at the same gas station in California last year, but misplaced the second ticket just as the time to claim the award expired.
Lahijani publicly came forward to claim half of the $394 million prize for a drawing that took place on December 8, 2023.
The tickets were sold at a Chevron gas station on Ventura Boulevard in Encino, California, according to The Post, which noted that each ticket was worth $197.5 million.
In California, the holder of a winning ticket has one year to claim the jackpot. In a lawsuit filed against the California Lottery on December 6, just hours before the expiration date of December 7, Lahijani claimed he had purchased the second ticket but misplaced it and was therefore the winner of the remaining $197.5 million jackpot.
"By virtue of his having timely submitted the first matching ticket, plaintiff is entitled to the entirety of the jackpot," the suit reads, per the Patch.
According to The Post, Lahijani claimed the winning numbers, 21, 26, 53, 66, 70, Mega Ball 13, were selected by his children, adding that he has been using those numbers for decades.
Lottery officials gave several explanations on how the same numbers could have been played at the same location, per the publication.
"While this is incredibly unusual and interesting, it's not unheard of," a California Lottery spokesperson said back in 2023, per The Post. "There are any number of explanations; perhaps one person wanted to try their luck on two different rows for whatever reason, or maybe a couple of buddies wanted to try their chances with the same exact numbers. We won't know exactly how this happened until the prize is claimed."
The Chevron location in Encino made history when it was awarded a record bonus of more than $1.9 million, which was the largest amount ever given to a single retailer in California Lottery history, the publication reported.
Retailers that sell a winning jackpot ticket worth over $1 million receive a bonus of half of one percent of the prize up to a million dollars, with the Chevron location earning $987,500 from each winning ticket.