A life-changing lottery ticket with a staggering $70-million prize has officially been declared unclaimed, marking a historic moment in Canadian lottery history. The announcement comes from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), which stated in a news release that despite nearly 2,700 individuals coming forward to claim the prize, the rightful owner of the ticket was not among them.
The massive Lotto Max ticket was purchased in Scarborough on June 28, 2022. Unfortunately, it reached its one-year expiration mark last month, leading to the declaration that the prize is now void. According to the rules, winners have a year from the draw date to claim their winnings, or the prize becomes ineligible.
The OLG’s dedicated team of lottery investigators meticulously reviewed each of the nearly 2,700 potential claims due to the high volume of lost ticket reports. However, none of these claims were successful, leading to the decision to declare the ticket unclaimed. OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti revealed that this marks the largest unclaimed ticket in Canadian lottery history.
Bitonti noted that the ticket was never validated at an OLG lottery terminal, checked using a self-serve ticket checker, or logged through the OLG App. He suggested that it may have been accidentally left in the pocket of a pair of jeans or even discarded unknowingly.
The unclaimed $70 million has now been returned to the lottery prize pool, where it will be used for future jackpots and various prize distributions. This outcome serves as a reminder to all lottery players to carefully keep track of their tickets and ensure they’re checked within the time limit to claim any potential winnings.